Kaidan
by Marie9
Summary: It seems to be an open and shut case...until Edogawa Conan finds himself working alongside a very secretive, insistent American tourist named Danny Fenton and slowly realizing that some of the prime suspects for the murder are no longer among the living.
1. A Nicer Jerk

I promise to make it not suck. THE PLOT BUNNIES ARE TO BLAME! My silly little bunnies can never be one-shots, I swear, and this guy has been gnawing away at my brain for way, _way_ too long. Any concrit or other thoughts are deeply appreciated.

* * *

"You know…Being murdered _is_ still being murdered and all, but it couldn't have possibly happened to a nicer guy than that jerk Yorinoko Akai."

This was followed by a soft harrumph and a nasty glare shooting out from under a well-worn porkpie hat that was currently pulled low on Megure-keibu's head, the ire contained in the glare aimed directly at the oily businessman he had just referred to. That businessman Yorinoko Akai, of course, was currently very dead, his crumpled and lifeless body carefully hidden under a huge blue tarp that was part of a homicide scene a few feet away in front of an office building, the investigation currently shut down due to the driving rainstorm the greater Tokyo prefecture was currently experiencing.

The arms, legs and neck of Yorinoko Akai were all contorted into positions that they would never be able to assume if he'd been alive as well as being broken in several places, and his expiration upon the medical examiner's initial rough on-scene investigation before the rain delay had been deemed due to the spread-eagled three-story fall from his incredibly plush downtown office that Akai had taken through his private office's large window at about seven P.M. that evening. Megure shifted his umbrella somewhat so the cold, windy rain wouldn't hit his face as much before continuing. "I almost kinda wish that we didn't have the killer completely dead to rights on this one." This dark-humored pun eventually earned the keibu a few chuckles of appreciation and shakes of heads after caffeine began firing up the team's collective neurons and the intended humor fully registered.

There was then a general, soft murmur of agreement with their keibu's statement from the Tokyo police departments' First Division Homicide Unit members as they continued their meeting regarding witnesses and initial findings, Megure-keibu having pretty much summed up what they were all feeling regarding the man who was sometimes called the Robber Baron of Beika- behind his back where the name would never actually reach his ears, of course. Akai had gained an overall reputation as a slippery, unsavory character who had built his fortune through deceit, treachery and having the right connections of a similarly seedy nature.

Unfortunately as their keibu had said, being murdered _was_ being murdered, and so they were stuck processing the rain-drenched homicide scene of a highly disliked individual, a killing for which they'd already arrested their perpetrator thankfully in what seemed to be one of the most open-and-shut cases they'd ever had to work. Suziboshi Takeo was still sitting in the backseat of the nearby patrol car they'd thrown him in a half an hour earlier after arresting him at the scene, handcuffs rattling against the safety cage as he kept protesting his innocence loudly even though they had a myriad of physical and other evidence that tied him very thoroughly and undeniably to the scene.

The evidence included not one but several different very reliable-seeming eyewitnesses who were still currently busy giving their statements and the suspect's fingerprints all over the front of the corpse's Armani suit jacket- a nearly full set of both the right and left hands to be precise. There were also at least three different security cameras that had filmed the act of the suspect somehow shoving the deceased straight through the shatter-resistant glass of his third floor windows and a myriad of other ends and pieces that added up to the currently handcuffed gentleman in the back of the car being the culprit. There was, however, still some wild speculating going on amongst the detectives as to how Suziboshi had actually managed to _shove_ the victim through the heavily fortified window.

"The worst part of this whole mess is that we have a big group of American tourists as witnesses," sighed Megure through the insistent patter of rain as he pointed to a group of seven to eight teenagers and a pair of chaperones that were huddled under umbrellas and a makeshift tarp tent that had been roughly constructed when the hotel lobby had proven to be too crowded with curious onlookers and press members trying to sneak interviews in using translators or their own English skills. "They're all here on an extended school trip I guess- their school is on a vacation, and eight of them plus the two adult chaperones flew into Tokyo for a cultural exchange trip. It's their spring break or something like that." Megure shrugged with one hand while readjusting the umbrella with the other. "Apparently at least five of them actually saw the victim falling out of the window from their own windows- or rather, him being pushed out of it- because they're staying at the hotel across the street over there." He pointed with his thumb at a new high-rise hotel that had recently been built. "The adult chaperones accompanying saw the whole thing as well."

"Megure-keibu, one of the witnesses is asking if there's a fluent English speaker anywhere around." Takagi adjusted his umbrella and flipped his rain-spattered notepad until he located the slightly smeared page that was looking for. "Danny Fenton is his name; he's one of the teenaged witnesses from the exchange trip. He seems to be absolutely insistent that the guy we've arrested didn't kill our victim, but I don't quite understand all of what he's saying and my English dictionary isn't any help with a few of the words that he's using."

"Do you need some assistance with translation? I'm bilingual in Japanese and English," came a cultured voice that carried just a hint of a strange accent within its Japanese. The three officers turned around to see a tall umbrella-bearing blonde teen dressed in a perfectly pressed three-piece grey suit that had an open Inverness coat partially covering it. There was also a hawk sitting on his shoulder, both human and avian giving the trio of investigators an expectant look. "Kaitou Kid carried out a heist down the street earlier and I happened to overhear your conversation as I was heading back to my car. I'd decided to see what was going on here after the flashing lights started up on my way back." There was no way that Hakuba Saguru would risk parking closer than five blocks to a Kid heist, not after the rotten eggs and dove feathers that the car had been bombarded with by the thief a few months ago.

"Oh, I know you. You're Hakuba Saguru, the commissioner's son. If you can help us that out would be great," replied Satou as she indicated a dark-haired, blue-eyed teen several feet away that was tilting his head back slightly under his hood and looking skyward with a determined, intent expression on his face as if searching for something or someone in the thick clouds that were drenching everyone with rain at the moment. "That's Daniel- Danny Fenton over there; the rest of the group is being questioned by other officers at the moment. I'll follow you over and take notes, if Megure-keibu approves that is."

"Go ahead and do it," replied Megure with a nod to Satou. "The more information we get and the quicker we can get it, the better. These guys are due to head back to America in just over nine days so we need everything we can possibly get from them before then." He then turned back to another officer to receive an update on the rain-drenched crime scene before Satou gave Saguru a brief rundown of the facts as they approached the witness. It seemed like one of the most open-and-shut cases that Saguru had ever heard, but you never knew.

"A bad business deal, eh? I know that Father mentioned he was having some people keep tabs on Yorinoko Akai, although he was having a devil of a time actually catching that man's hands in any cookie jars, so to speak."

"That's what it seems to be, at least from what we've found out so far," replied Satou with a nod as she tried to read from her notes, still hold her umbrella and _also_ shield the paper sheets contained within the spiral-bound notebook. "It seems that Suziboshi Takeo was defrauded in some sort of pyramid scene a few months ago by Yorinoko Akai and he had made an appointment to confront him about it. That meeting quickly escalated into little more than a yelling match according to some employees of Yorinoko's that were working late, and it ended with Suziboshi apparently shoving Yorinoko through the window, causing him to fall to his death." The pair had drawn close to Danny now, so Satou flipped to a blank page in the notebook and nodded to Saguru.

"I understand that you need some help with translation. My name's Saguru Hakuba," began the meitantei as he approached Danny and extended a hand, which was taken and shaken with what Saguru realized was a surprising firmness by the younger boy. "So what exactly is going on here, Mr. Fenton?"

"That guy they've arrested? He didn't kill the guy that got tossed out the window." This was said with such a serious air of absolute finality and certainty that Saguru found himself wondering if Danny had heard all of the other eyewitness accounts and the security footage that seemed to add up to fairly undeniable proof that the arrested had, indeed, committed the crime.

"I take it I don't need to translate that," began Saguru with a glance to Satou who gave an affirmative nod of her head. "Well Mr. Fenton, there seems to be quite a lot of hard evidence that points to the gentlemen they arrested being the culprit from what Satou-keiji has told me. What makes you so certain that it wasn't him?"

The other boy sighed dejectedly before running a hand through his hair while looking down at the ground, flipping his hood back temporarily in the process; Saguru guessed that he was trying to figure out the best way to phrase the response. "Well…OK, he did it but he didn't _really _do it. I know it sounds weird, but it's the truth." Danny looked up and met Saguru's eyes with that same intense expression while he put his hood back in place over his head.

Satou cocked an eyebrow and turned her head to Saguru before she focused on Danny. "Did it…but didn't _really_ do it? I understand what you're trying to say but it makes no sense."

"He probably means that the suspect was forced to commit the crime somehow," replied Saguru before switching back to English to confirm that theory. "So are you saying there was someone else in the room that held a gun to the other man's head or something like that, Mr. Fenton? Although not even _that_ would explain how the culprit managed to shove the victim clear through the sort of reinforced glass they use on the upper levels of those sort of buildings."

"No, I'm not trying to say that at all." Danny shook his head emphatically. "That guy didn't commit the murder. At least, not while he was himself, that is."

After glancing over to make sure that Satou didn't need a translation of that last sentence, Saguru was quickly realizing why they'd needed a translator in the first place; even with having English as a second tongue he found himself puzzling over what this Danny Fenton was saying and it had probably been just as if not more confusing to the police who had heard it initially. "So he did it, but he was mentally unstable or something along those lines?"

"No." Danny sighed with frustration and broke eye contact with Saguru while Satou finished her notes, the teen looking over to his left where the rest of the American tourists were standing before his mouth suddenly set in a stubborn, determined line. "I guess it _doesn't_ make sense with the way that I'm putting it, does it?" He shook his head sadly and shook some of the rain off of his coat with a few shakes of his arms.

"Well, quite honestly if you're listening to what you're saying it really _doesn't_ make a lot of sense, Mr. Fenton," replied Saguru evenly with a light shrug that caused Watson to shift restlessly on his shoulder before settling back down. "You're saying that he did it, but _also_ saying that he wasn't himself when he did it. That generally implies mental illness or something along those lines; that's not what you seem to be trying to infer with that statement, however." He repeated the last sentence in Japanese for Satou's benefit when she asked, Satou nodding in agreement with the blonde before jotting her notes down.

Danny's mouth twitched slightly before he finally turned his gaze back to Saguru and Satou in turn, shifting his weight slightly in the process and clearly uncomfortable with what he was about to ask. "I guess you guys have a lot of evidence against the guy, huh?"

"That would be putting it mildly, based on what Satou-keiji has told me," replied Saguru with a slight nod. "There's quite a fair bit of physical evidence and witness testimony both."

Danny looked like he was trying to come to some sort of a decision about something, if Hakuba's interpretation of his body language was correct; his movements were full of tension and furtiveness. Danny finally raised his head resolutely and looked Saguru and Satou in the eye in turn. "I'm telling you, _that guy didn't do it_."


	2. Basket Case

"Yeah, Danny. I'm sure that starting out by making the cops think you're a total basket case will help the guy they arrested out _so _much." Samantha Manson accompanied this quiet, sarcastic statement with a roll of her eyes as she looked up and made a slight adjustment to her hair tie. "Besides, have you forgotten that everyone _else_ on this school trip that was downstairs saw the guy push the victim out the window, including our adult chaperones?" She cocked her thumb towards the room next door, where Jack Fenton was loudly going on about how 'cool' it was to be interviewed by the police to his wife Maddie on the other side of the spackled, cream-colored wall. "Although when it comes to your dad I _do_ use the term 'adult' loosely," she finished with a smile.

"I know, but…but I _had_ to say _something _to get their attention, Sam! That guy they arrested is gonna get put in jail for something he didn't do." Danny ran a hand through his hair before getting up off of the hotel bed he was sitting on and pacing back and forth, talking while he looked down at the ground. "Well, okay, he did it but not _really_. He was being overshadowed- I saw a person's ghost fly out of his body right after the window broke, when we all looked up because of the dead guy's yelling as he fell. I couldn't get a really good at who exactly it was since the police were shoving everyone away from the scene so fast though, and they were watching us too closely for me to sneak off, go ghost and chase them down."

"Good thing I brought this then, even if I _did_ have to make the noble sacrifice of leaving my third backup emergency Blackberry behind at the house." Tucker Foley pulled out a large, very filled black duffel bag and extracted the Fenton Thermos with a showy grin, handing it to Danny before kneeling back down and rezipping the bag, then shoving it back under his bed.

"_Third_ _backup_ emergency Blackberry? Tucker, have you ever considered some form of technology addiction rehab?" Sam crossed her arms and directed a light, half-meant glare at her friend as she shook her head in disbelief. "I really think you need it."

"No, Sam, what I _need _is to be able to check my Email wherever and whenever, and this little guy is _way_ better than having to haul around a laptop everywhere." Tucker waved the Blackberry in his hand back and forth. "Oh, that's right! I accidentally snapped a couple of pictures after that guy fell- I dropped my Blackberry when they were moving us and hit the photo button a couple of times while I was catching it. I wonder if the ghost is in any of them."

"Maybe, although ghosts don't usually show up in photos or on film unless they _want_ to be seen," replied Danny in a doubtful tone as he started looking over Tucker's shoulder to see what was on the small screen and shaking his head in disappointment when the photos seemed to contain nothing after a few minutes of looking them over as Tucker scrolled through them. "I only have tonight and eight more days to try and track the ghost down, too...This trip isn't nearly long enough."

"Even if you _do_ somehow track down and catch the ghost, how are you ever going to convince _anyone_ that a ghost _possessed_ the guy and made him commit murder, Danny? I really doubt anyone but us or Jazz would take you seriously. Well, your parents probably would too, but I think you already know you can't go to them about this unless you want to risk half of Japan being destroyed in the process of them trying to catch the ghost." Sam offered her friend a knowing, sympathetic smile. Maddie Fenton was skilled at not only cramming a wide variety of her and her husband's ghost-hunting gadgets into their luggage, but also somehow managing to get everything past airport security.

"I…don't know exactly _what_ I'm going to do, Sam. But I'll probably have to start by finding out more about that guy who died, especially anyone he didn't get along with that kicked the bucket before him." Danny sighed dejectedly and settled into a small grey couch before turning on the room's flat-screen television and cranking it up as loud as the hotel's settings would allow, hoping to at least find some local news with English subtitles somewhere if not maybe lucking into an actual English-language newscast on the murder.

"Doing detective work? How are you going to do that here when you don't speak any Japanese? I mean yeah, you'll probably find at least some of what you'll need in English language newspapers and a lot of Japanese people speak at least _some_ English but-"

"Hey now! What's this, suddenly doubting my geek cred or something?" broke in Tucker suddenly, causing Sam and Danny to turn to him with puzzled expressions. Tucker grinned and began fishing in the large side pocket of his tan cargo pants while wagging a disappointed finger at his friends with his free hand and giving them a look of mock reproach. "Do you _really _think that a discriminating gadget aficionado like yours truly would be caught dead without the latest and greatest in electronic language translators, especially on a trip to a foreign country that's been planned for months?" He pulled out a black object about the size of a small remote control and held it in out front of him lovingly. "I think not."

"I should have known" muttered Sam lightly under her breath, nonetheless quickly getting up from her seat on the bed to walk over and take a closer look along with Danny at the small black unit Tucker was proudly holding in his hands. "What is that thing exactly, Tucker?" she inquired curiously.

"Let me introduce you to my little friend, the Babelfish Mark Five," Tucker began happily. "Audio translation, text translation by scanning, on-the-fly translation of a conversation, this bad boy can do it all without breaking a sweat in over two hundred and fifty languages. Extra languages available for ten ninety-five per CD of twenty," he finished brightly before pointing the smaller end of the Babelfish at the television which was currently showing a pair of well-groomed announcers, one male and one female.

"…police are now confirming earlier reports that they have arrested the apparent culprit of Yorinoko Akai's murder, Suziboshi Takeo, earlier this evening almost immediately after the crime was reported. Several key pieces of evidence rather firmly tie him to the act according to the detectives in charge of the investigation," came a smooth-sounding but artificial male voice from within the Babelfish a few moments after the male announcer had finished his sentence and what looked to be a commercial break began.

"What about that blonde guy you were talking to earlier, Danny- the one who was helping you and Detective Satou after you asked for a translator? Would he maybe help you if the police won't listen? You said the police seemed to know who he was." Sam offered a shrug. "Couldn't hurt to ask him."

"Oh, yeah, that guy- Saguru something, he had a weird name." Danny grimaced lightly. "I don't know; he seemed to brush me off like the detective did, not that I blame either one of them for that. If I _was_ them I'd probably think I was nuts too." His face suddenly filled with recollection before he looked down and began digging through his right jeans pocket. "He _did_ give me his cell phone number at the same time that Detective Satou gave me her card, now that I think about it." He fished out a pair of small white business-size cards out after a few moments and inspected them. "Here he is- Saguru Hakuba. I'll probably call him in the morning. For now, I want to go do a little checking at that crime scene across the street. Can you two cover for me if Mom and Dad come checking on me later?"

"Of course," replied Tucker with a nod. "Did you even have to ask that?"

* * *

_Alright. Now let's see if we can find any stuff in this guy's office that'll get me pointed in the right direction. _Danny knew that he had one distinct advantage in trying to figure things out- the ability to poke around and investigate without being seen.

Danny phased through the back of the building and into the office, trying to stay as far as possible from the pair of police officers guarding the front doors and the other pair that was stationed at the entrance to the office. Making sure to stay invisible in case one of the officers decided to open the locked door to investigate any noises, he then floated over to the victim's desk and began a careful external inspection of the deceased's work area, trying to not disturb any evidence in the crime scene that the police hadn't found yet. _Maybe there's __a hidden file folder or a secret drawer in his desk? There's _gotta_ be something in here; people don't get shoved out of windows by other people- well, ghosts in this case- for no good reason. _

He sighed as his initial once-over seemed to reveal nothing of interest. _Bah, I'm going to have to actually open some drawers if I want to find anything helpful, aren't I? _He squoze himself into the footspace under the desk to avoid cameras, phasing through the victim's plush dark brown leather chair. Danny then went corporeal again, grabbing two Kleenex from his pocket and using them to prevent fingerprints as he slowly slid open a bottom-level drawer that was unlocked. This was followed by him letting out a muffled, mild oath as his hand went invisible on its own accord and the drawer finished sliding out of the desk loudly then thunked to the floor, scattering several objects across the plush tan carpet in its wake.

This was followed by what sounded like yelling in Japanese, the faint rattling of keys on the other side of the door and the turning of the door's lock. Danny supposed the officer had probably asked who was in there or something to that effect.

_Fantastic timing, _he thought bitterly before frantically stuffing the Kleenex into a nearby trash bin, going ghost under the desk and quickly flying into a nearby closet through its door. _Stupid powers always decide to act up at the worst possible moment..._

There was more talking by the policeman, then a brief pause and footsteps that stopped outside the closet door Danny had flown into. _This is bad, really _really_ bad..._ He recognized what sounded like Detective Satou's name at the end of the last sentence, then Danny watched the closet's doorknob turning and quickly flew up before pressing himself as hard against the closet's ceiling as he could. _This definitely wasn't one of my better ideas at all._

The male police officer down below finished looking around the floor with a sweeping arc of his flashlight, then seemed to grow curious at how disturbed the coats and other odds and ends in the closet were. He muttered something to himself and then turned his flashlight upwards to the ceiling, staring right into Danny's eyes as he followed the light's path upwards.

"Uh...boo?" offered Danny meekly after a few stunned moments of silence had passed.


	3. No Such Thing

"I'm telling you guys," sighed Shinichi for what felt like the millionth time in a tone of total exasperation to the rest of the collective Shonen Tantei while he cupped his head with one hand and drummed his fingers irritably on his desk with the other only to have the statement fall on deaf ears, "there is _no such thing as a ghost_."

Of course, if the buzz of conversation going on around him were to be believed, every child in the Beika district had either spotted a ghost lurking in their closet, seen a ghost in a park or public place somewhere or watched a ghost dump their family's pot of miso out onto the floor or commit similar mischief while it cackled evilly and left so the blame was placed on them (of course, the parents involved never saw a thing but there were eager cries of agreement and shock resonating through the class at a dull roar.) _Our poor sensei is going to have a heck of a time calming the class down this morning, _thought Shinichi with some amusement as he studied the face of Ayumi. He'd expected it to be pretty bad after seeing the news on the television this morning, but not quite to this level.

"How can you say that? All the newspapers this morning are saying the dead man's ghost is haunting the crime scene at the office building downtown, Conan!" Ayumi showed him a roughed-up, well-thumbed front page that asked in bold print if Yorinoko Akai had been **RETRIEVING HIS BELONGINGS FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE? **"And it was even Takagi-keiji who saw the ghost, see right here? He said it had creepy, glowing _green eyes_ and bright white hair and it said boo to him before it flew away!" she continued excitedly while pointing at different places in the article that the quotes were coming from.

_Eh? Takagi-keiji isn't one to make up stuff like that... _More than mildly interested now, Shinichi took the paper Ayumi offered him and studied it more closely, only becoming more puzzled as he took the detective's rather reluctant-sounding interview in. After wondering how in the world the newspapers had managed to get a hold of the story- and how the police had let such a wild speculation even be leaked to the press in the first place- Shinichi found himself wondering about what the detective had seen. _Maybe it was someone wearing a disguise or something? Reading this it sure sounds like some kind of illusion or projection since it flew straight up through the ceiling, though. Then again, how could a holographic projection be able to actually open drawers and move things around like they're describing? _The whole thing was definitely puzzling- an interesting puzzle that he wouldn't mind putting together given the chance.

"It's a very intriguing story, isn't it?" commented Shiho from over Shinichi's shoulder with an amused smile as she walked over from her own desk after putting her supplies away. "Apparently whatever it was vanished right through the ceiling after Takagi-keiji saw it, and it also didn't leave behind any kind of marks or damage at all on the walls. I doubt that even Kaitou Kid himself could pull off an illusion like that without leaving _some_ kind of mark _somewhere_."

"Oh, good morning Haibara-san! So you saw the news earlier, too?" asked Mitsuhiko excitedly as he placed his backpack down and pulled out his binder before walking over to the trio. "We _have_ to check that place out after school today and see what we find!" he cried before pounding his hand into his fist. "I bet we can help the police out and catch that ghost!"

"Nope. Not doing it, Mitsuhiko. I'm not going anywhere _near_ that building, no way!" Genta shook his head back and forth firmly as he approached the group, hands planted firmly on his sides. "What if that ghost tries to hurt us or something, huh? I'm not getting gobbled up by a ghost!"

"But maybe it's a _nice_ ghost, Genta," offered Ayumi with a smile. "After all, it didn't hurt Takagi-keiji when it could have, right? It just flew away instead."

"There _is_ no ghost, you guys. Ghosts don't exist." Shinichi sat up straight and continued in a matter-of-fact tone before offering a half-smile and shrugging. "But if you want to go there and see that for yourselves after school I guess we could. Maybe Agasa-hakase would drive us there." _And maybe I'll get a chance to really poke around the crime scene as well._

"Good! Then maybe we can ask the ghost who did it while we're there if it shows up!" said Ayumi happily as she nodded. "After all, Takagi-keiji wouldn't lie about a ghost, right Conan?"

"I don't think he'd lie about something that he saw, no. But maybe what he _really_ saw was something else." _Of course, figuring out what that something was is going to be the interesting part..._

Their sensei entered the room a few moments later and the class stood up to greet her.

* * *

"Don't start, guys. _Please_?" Danny heard two familiar pairs of footsteps approaching him but didn't even bother to lift his head which was currently buried in his hands while he sat at one of the hotel's breakfast tables with a barely touched plate of food, a knife and a fork in front of him. "Because I'd _really _rather not talk about last night. At all."

"Aw, c'mon. You looked like you need some cheering up from your bestest buddies," replied Tucker brightly as he sat down to Danny's right. "Sounds like your little mission last night wasn't too successful," he added quietly as he began to tuck into a pile of scrambled eggs with gusto.

"Understatement. Of the century," sighed Danny dejectedly without ever moving as Sam settled in to his left. He groaned before continuing. "Mom and Dad are going totally nuts now that they've seen the news, too; they've been bugging the police to let them look at the guy's office and ghost hunt for about the past two to three hours. Dad almost got arrested when he tried to get by them with the Fenton Bazooka."

"Did you manage to find anything worthwhile before you ran into that detective?" inquired Sam in a hushed tone while she ate something that looked to Danny like a chunk of grass-covered dirt that had been squished and covered with a really weird-looking yellow-tinted whipped cream. "You were trying to find out about the guy's enemies, right?"

"Yeah, I was trying to find out about any enemies he might have had. And no, I didn't have any time to really do a search. That's the worst part of it," began Danny in a frustrated tone as he finally shifted position and began picking at his food halfheartedly. "I was only in there for maybe three or four minutes at the most before that detective came in thanks to my stupid powers acting up. I couldn't risk going back later either, since they'd called in so much more security after that."

"Well, maybe you should try giving that guy you were talking to yesterday a call. The one with the weird name," shrugged Tucker in between bites. "Can't hurt to try, right? He probably _already_ thinks you're half crazy, may as well go all out."

"The more I think about it, the more that I really don't think it's a good idea to call him." After Sam and Tucker gave him questioning looks, Danny sat up straighter and looked at both of them. "Come _on_. What exactly am I supposed to say, guys? 'Remember the talk we had yesterday? Well I'm a half-ghost and I saw a ghost fly out of the guy's body. I know he didn't do it!' Or maybe something like 'Hey, know what? You should be checking out dead people who hated him as suspects!'" Danny accompanied this with sarcastic gestures before he poured syrup over his pancakes. "No, I think I'm just gonna have to go to a library or something and see what I can find and then poke around some more tonight. _Not_ at the crime scene," he added with an eye roll at the other two's disbelieving looks.

"Well, what about that guy in the white hat?" asked Sam tentatively. "He might have seen something."

"Huh? What are you talking about? _What_ guy in a white hat, Sam?" Danny offered her a puzzled look.

"Oh, I bet you didn't see him because you were so busy looking for the ghost in the sky," she replied before she took a bite. "There was a guy wearing a monocle and a white top hat who was sticking his head out of a window a little ways down the street right after the guy got pushed out the window; the screaming probably drew his attention. Maybe he saw something different from us since he was up a couple of stories, who knows? With the way he dressed he'd be easy enough to track down, although it was probably for some costume party or something." She shrugged and returned to eating.

"A guy in a monocle...and _white top hat_?" Danny finally managed after a few moments of total disbelief. "That's an awfully weird way to dress-"

"Uh, would that be the guy you're referring to, Sam?" asked Tucker as he pointed at the television, where a guy wearing the aforementioned hat and monocle was shown in a white three-piece suit with showy ruffles on his shoulders, grinning confidently down at the camera from a glider. Tucker grabbed the Babelfish and pointed it at the screen just as the screen changed over to a picture of the crime scene across the street.

"Yeah. I can't be sure of course since he was a little ways away and it was dark but that hat and monocle sure looked like what I saw." Sam nodded before finishing the last of her food along with the others. "Where was it we were supposed to go today again? Wasn't it to some natural waterfall or something?" She dug in her pants pocket for the trip's itinerary and sighed when she came up empty handed.

"Well, I think we were supposed to go to some hot springs north of here but the whole witnessing a murder thing kind of changed our plans. The police don't want us leaving town now, at least for the next few days" sighed Danny as he realized that he had no idea if there was a library anywhere close by enough that the police would actually let him travel there. _I have to figure out more about that guy...and try to track down that ghost that shoved him out the window too._


	4. Only Dead People

Time for more! Thanks to Chocolaty Taste, LeonaWriter, YumeTakato, WolfDaughter, Hydok and my other wonderful regular reviewers! You guys rock. :)

* * *

"_Why_ did this Akai guy have to be such a jerk?" demanded an irritated Danny with a huff as he studied the newspaper clippings in front of him. "It sounds like half of Japan probably would have been more than happy to shove him out that window." He sat down and sighed while continuing to study some of the older clippings that he'd found. "The suspect list will probably be a mile long even if it _is_ only dead people." Danny looked around after realizing what he'd just said- albeit quietly- and let out a tight, relieved sigh when he realized that Tucker was the only person close enough to hear it in the fairly empty library. _I have _got_ to be more careful, especially with my parents around...parents that are in ghost-hunting mode now thanks to me. _He grimaced as he thought back to how badly he'd fouled up his little fact-finding mission last night.

"What'd the guy do, kick puppies for a living and not help little old ladies across the street?" asked Tucker brightly from across the table as he continued scanning Japanese-language articles into the Babelfish for translation and later printing. Sam, Tucker and Danny had received rather reluctant permission from the police to journey the two blocks to the closest public library for a few hours earlier in the day.

"All kinds of stuff- _too_ much stuff, actually," replied Danny as he shook his head before pointing at various article headlines spread out in front of him while he spoke. "Fraud, bank robbery, blackmail, embezzling, racketeering; you name it, Akai's name shows up on some story or another. And this is _just_ the stuff that I've managed to find so far." Danny cocked an eyebrow before adding "He must have had one heck of a lawyer though. It doesn't look like he was ever brought to trial for anything even though he was arrested a _lot_."

"Well, you're doing it for the guy they arrested and _not _for the jerk, right?" Sam finished walking up and then placed the coffees that she'd gone out to get down on the large table. She then eyed the cups suspiciously before sitting next to Danny. "I hope this coffee is alright- it was the last dregs of what the hotel had left over from their breakfast buffet." After taking a sip and deciding that it was at least tolerable, she turned to the other two and learned forward. "So what have you two found so far? Anything promising on whoever the ghost might be yet?"

"Nothing so far. Hopefully Tucker will have better luck when he gets those articles he's working on translated." Danny reached over to take a sip of the coffee and watched a small, red rubber ball come from his right and take a perfect bounce off of the top of the Styrofoam cup's plastic lid before continuing to bounce down the paper-covered wooden table and coming to a stop almost right at its edge. The trio continued to stare at the ball before a small girl appeared and grabbed it off the table before running back to a group of four other kids that were standing by the receptionist's desk in the library lobby. She then started reprimanding the tallest one- at least Danny guessed that she was reprimanding him based on her tone of voice and facial expression.

"Well, I suppose we'd better get going back to the hotel and check in with the police. They'll probably be wondering what's taking us so long." _Absolutely zero progress, and my eyes feel like they're going to cross now from reading so much. _Danny began gathering up the research materials and felt a tug on the leg of his jeans. He looked down to see the little girl who'd taken the ball off of the table smiling brightly and pointing back at the group of kids. She then began talking rapidly. "Uh Tucker, a little help with the Babelfish over here?"

"At your service," the other boy replied before pushing a few buttons and handing to Danny. "It's all set for speech translation now, just talk into it right there." He pointed to a small square in the device's side before he returned to cleaning up the table with Sam.

"-bounced the ball when I told him not to. Genta wants to say sorry," came the automated voice as the little girl finished her sentence. "C'mon and follow me, mister!" She then released her grip on Danny's jeans and began walking towards the group of kids. "Okay, Genta, you better say you're sorry for bouncing the ball! Sensei won't let us come here on our lunch any more if you behave like that!" she said firmly as she and Danny finished approaching the group.

"It's no big deal really; I had a lid on my drink. No spill, no foul, right?" offered Danny with a grin to the tallest boy before the Babelfish kicked in and translated.

"Whoa, what's that thing? It's really cool-looking!" cried a boy with freckles and brown hair as he began examining the Babelfish in Danny's hand earnestly.

"It seems to be an automatic language translator," came a calm and strangely mature-sounding young girl's voice from behind Danny's right shoulder. She looked up at Danny as she stepped in front of him while the Babelfish finished translating, her deep brown eyes seeming a strange contrast to her neatly groomed strawberry blonde hair. "Are you three staying at the hotel down the block?"

_Why does this girl seem so much older than she looks? _"Yeah, we are. We're here on a student exchange trip, although we're kind of stuck having to stay close to the hotel now after last night."

* * *

_Interesting. These guys look like they're researching Yorinoko Akai, but what for? _Shinichi narrowed his eyes as he watched the other two pick up articles and newspapers that had been littering the table. _Wait a minute...I'll bet that these three were in that group of American tourists that witnessed the murder last night. That still doesn't explain why they're taking such an interest in the victim, though._

"Oh, did you guys maybe see the ghost that said boo to Detective Takagi last night?" Ayumi asked eagerly through the translator. "I think he's telling the truth about seeing a ghost but none of my friends will believe me." She frowned and pointed a finger at the groups behind her.

"Ghosts? What are you talking about? There's no such things as ghosts." The black-haired boy then laughed nervously before stepping backwards from the Shonen Tanteidan. "We have to get going back to the hotel now, though." He waved and began to walk off, Shinichi noticing that his body language was screaming happiness at being able to leave.

"That translator thing he had was awesome, I want one!" cried Mitsuhiko as soon as the three Americans had finished leaving the library. "I wonder why the heck they were looking at all that stuff about the dead guy, though." He rubbed his chin and studied the table the three of them had been sitting at. "They had a whole bunch of papers and stuff on the table when we first walked in, and it looked like almost all of them were about that guy."

_The exact same question that I have, _thought Shinichi before he adjusted his glasses. _And just why did that guy want to leave so badly when Ayumi mentioned ghosts? Of course, he's right- there are no such things as ghosts. _Now if only he could manage to convince the rest of the group to call of the ghost hunt that they were so insistent on...

"I'm telling you, Satou-san, I _know_ what I saw. It was a ghost." Shinichi heard Takagi-keiji's voice issuing firmly from a corner of the library. "It wasn't a holographic projection or anything like that at all. You would have had to have been there." The group walked over to his voice and found the pair of keiji in a corner, along with Hakuba Saguru.

"Well, if you truly think that it was a ghost that certainly puts a rather strange possible new light on that witness Daniel Fenton's insistence last night that Suziboshi Takeo is innocent, doesn't it?" the blonde meitantei asked as he cracked open an old-looking book. "I thought his phrasing was somewhat peculiar at the time Satou-keiji and I were interviewing him last night, actually." Saguru cleared his throat while continuing to study the book he was holding in his hands. "'Did it...but didn't _really _do it', or something very close to that if I recall correctly." He shrugged. "Perhaps he was referring to a ghostly possession or something along those lines. Although such a thing would be extraordinarily difficult to actually _prove_, of course, even if it _is _what he meant."

"You two can't _possibly_ be seriously suggesting that a...a _ghost _did this," replied Satou firmly but quietly so that the conversation wouldn't carry. "We have a big pile of physical evidence tying the man we arrested yesterday to the crime. His handprints and fingerprints were absolutely everywhere, and we also have security cameras documenting the act."

"I don't know whether a ghost did it or not. What I _do _know is that there was definitely a ghost in Yorinoko Akai's closet last night. A ghost that was _also_ poking around Akai's belongings before I'd entered the room." At the questioning looks he received from both Satou and Saguru, Takagi explained more fully. "I had gone to check the room out because of a loud thud. After the ghost floated through the ceiling, I checked the office to see if anything had been taken and found one of the desk's drawers on the floor with some of its contents spilled out. Nothing was actually missing, though."

He pulled out some notes and began reading from them. "I also checked the security cameras this morning to see if anyone was caught on them after breaking in. None of the officers on duty saw anyone at all, but you can see the same drawer slowly slide out after a hand that's holding Kleenex or something pokes out from under the desk and begins pulling it out. Then the hand suddenly vanishes and the drawer finishes sliding out and down to the ground. Oh, and there were absolutely no signs at all of a break-in, I might add. The door was still locked nice and tight, and all of the windows or possible entrances into the room were all still sealed."

"Really, Takagi-keiji?" cried Ayumi exitedly after he finished his sentence. She then turned to the rest of the Shonen Tanteidan with a triumphant grin. "See? I _told_ you Takagi-keiji was telling the truth!"

_A disappearing hand coming out from under the desk, but no signs of a break-in at the office? That_ is _weird..._ Shinichi also wondered about the witness Hakuba had mentioned, Daniel Fenton, and his apparent strange insistence on Suziboshi's innocence in spite of the mountain of physical evidence saying otherwise. _Sounds like he's one of the American witnesses staying at the hotel. I wonder if I could figure out who he is and try to figure out a way to talk to him. _Of course, Shinichi wasn't quite sure about trying to talk to the witness himself; a seven-year-old being almost perfectly bilingual, although certianly not unheard of, would probably raise some eyebrows that Shinichi really didn't want raised. Especially when that seven-year-old started asking some rather nosy questions about murder.


	5. You Forgot Something

Time for more! Thanks everyone, and hope you enjoy it! :)

* * *

"Hey mister! You forgot something back at the library!"

Danny heard a young boy's voice call out from behind the group. He motioned for Sam and Tucker to keep going before stopping and allowing the bespectacled boy he recognized from the library they'd just left to catch up with him. "Oh, thanks." Danny took the stack of copied newspaper clippings that the boy offered him. "Where are the rest of your friends at?"

"Waiting for the bus to take us back to school," the boy replied brightly as he cocked his thumb behind him and indicated the other four. "Did you know that man or something?" he continued in a curious tone as he pointed up at the papers in Danny's hands.

"Uh, no I didn't. Thanks for bringing the papers, but you should probably go catch your bus now." Danny offered a nervous laugh before managing to shuffle the stack of papers into one hand and pointing at the bus that was pulling up to its stop across the street. _That little kid speaks pretty good English, _he thought idly while he waited to make sure that the boy crossed the street and got onto the bus safely before heading towards the hotel again. _So, what to do...maybe another patrol tonight is in order after we've narrowed down the suspect list some. And no letting myself get caught off guard again, _Danny added to himself firmly as he caught up with Sam and Tucker. Of course, even the fact that he'd been startled was no excuse for completely forgetting to use his invisibility once the policeman had started poking around- he suspected that he was still going to be kicking himself about it for at least the next couple days. "I guess I forgot a stack of papers," he explained to the other two as the trio reentered the hotel.

"Well, there's plenty more where that stuff came from," muttered Tucker as he hooked his thumb backwards to point at the almost bulging backpack that he was wearing. "The Babelfish oughta make short work of everything, though; most of the stuff I've got is in Japanese."

"Same here- mostly Japanese stuff," added Sam as she held up her own stack of clippings. "The librarian helped me find it."

"Oh there you are, Danny! There's a Detective Takagi downstairs who's been waiting for you for a while." Maddie finished walking down the hotel's hallway and cocked her eyebrow as she studied the paper-laden trio more closely. "Getting a jump start on that essay that you guys are supposed to write about Japanese culture since we're stuck here for the time being, I take it?"

"Yeah, that's right." Danny handed his stack of papers to Sam and headed down to the lobby using the elevator. _I wonder what he wants to talk to me about? _He stepped out of the rather plush elevator and surveyed the large lobby, trying to decide how best to handle the meeting. _I hope it's just a few follow-up questions from yesterday. _As Danny made eye contact with the detective and approached him, he realized with a quickly suppressed flash of horror why the policeman he'd run into last night had seemed so familiar even with a bright flashlight waving in his face. _That guy WAS Detective Takagi! _

"Thanks for coming down. There are just a few more questions about last night that I'd like to go over quickly," explained Takagi as he pulled out a notepad and indicated a small room that had been set aside by the hotel as a temporary interview room at the police department's request. Danny followed him in the room to also find Hakuba Saguru sitting in one of the plastic chairs.

"I don't normally work with the police, but Detective Takagi asked for my assistance with translation if it becomes needed," explained Saguru mildly while Danny finished sliding into the seat to his left; the blonde had picked up on the other teen's somewhat puzzled expression.

"You seemed pretty certain last night that Suziboshi didn't commit the murder although there's a lot of evidence that shows otherwise, Danny." Takagi closed the door before settling down into his own seat and grabbing a pen that had been lying on the white plastic table. "Why exactly is that?"

_Because a ghost overshadowed the guy, that's why! _Not that he could actually _say_ that, of course. Danny frantically racked his brain as he felt the other two's suspicion-filled eyes on him. "Well, the guy seemed really dazed and confused when I saw him right after the other guy fell- like he didn't even know where he _was_, much less what he was doing at the time." He realized that it had been a mistake to answer so honestly as soon as the words finished leaving his mouth, and Danny hoped desperately that he hadn't stuck his foot as far in his mouth as it felt like he just had.

_Awfully observant, isn't he? _mused Takagi as he jotted some notes down. He had already decided before the interview that he wasn't going to mention how closely that the boy's story dovetailed with the still-insistent suspect's pleas of amnesia and innocence- pleas that were continuing in spite of his lawyer's advisories to stay silent. "And that was your _only_ reason?" He deliberately let the disbelief he was feeling slip into his tone, hoping to shake loose whatever was clearly rattling around inside Danny's head.

"I believe what Detective Takagi is getting at," began Saguru evenly after the question hung in the air unanswered, "is that it seems like you know something, or perhaps saw something, that you're not telling the police about for some reason."

"Look, if you saw someone else- or anything that stuck out in your mind, really- it would be best if you told us about it so that we can look into it." Takagi cocked his eyebrow and studied Danny closely, unable to shake the sensation in the back of his mind that the teen seemed familiar from somewhere else besides the interviews they'd been conducting. "Especially since you seem to have been the only witness to see whatever or whoever it was."

Danny felt completely trapped, and wondered how in the world he was going to get out of this one. _They won't believe me even if I _do_ tell them the truth. _As his mind groped desperately for an even halfway acceptable answer (read: one that didn't involve use of the word 'ghost,') Danny wondered just how far into the territory of the truth he dared venture. He figured that 'possessing someone else and using their body to commit a crime' wasn't exactly on the M.O. list of any police department. "I, uh...saw someone else there last night," he tentatively offered after a few tense seconds.

_Now we're finally getting somewhere. I still don't understand why we're having to drag the information out of him, though. _"Let's go a little bit more into that." Takagi flipped his notebook open and pulled out a pen. "What exactly were they doing at the time?"

"Flying above the building." _Hey, like Tucker said, may as well go all out. _Danny expected disbelieving looks to his response, at a minimum, but the two others just glanced at each other before refocusing thier attention on him.

"This person that you saw didn't happen to be wearing white, did they?" asked Detective Takagi with what looked an awful lot to Danny like a suppressed, amused smile on his face.

"Yeah, actually." _Well, not _wearing_ white...just white, but it's close enough I guess. _Danny blinked. _Wait a minute. Are they seriously asking about a-_

"That explains things," nodded Saguru as he shifted in his seat and leaned back slightly. "Just be thankful that you weren't trampled by a screaming horde of female fans shortly after you saw him, Mr. Fenton." He looked at Danny out of the corner of his eye with an unreadable expression.

"Huh?" _Female fans? What in the heck is he talking about? _Danny had quickly gone from being worried to being rather thoroughly confused.

"Was there anyone or anything else unusual you saw besides that?" Takagi decided that it wasn't the time or place to go into Kaitou Kid and his exploits.

_That wasn't unusual enough for you? _"Uh, nope. Just that."

Takagi nodded and stood up. "Thank you very much; I just wanted to clear that up. If we have any further questions, either Detective Satou or I will be in touch."

As Danny exited the room, he found himself still wondering who they'd been referring to. As he pushed the button to head up to his room, he realized something else. _It also sounds like whoever this person dressed in white was, they might have been in the area when the ghost shoved Akai out the window. Maybe they've seen or heard something... _

* * *

_No doubt about it, those three seem to be investigating people that Yorinoko Akai had business dealings with. _Shinichi had volunteered to run the papers to the black-haired boy in order to see just what the three tourists had been researching, and his hunch had been right. _But why are they so interested in the guy? _Even taking into account that they'd witnessed the murder, Shinichi still felt that the trio from the library was displaying an inordinant amount of interest in the victim. And then there'd been that nervous laugh..._Maybe it's time to start bumping into them a little more often to try and figure out just what they're up to. _Of course, the real question was how to be nosy without _looking _nosy, something the shrunken detective knew he wasn't the best at although he could get away with a lot thanks to it being swept under the 'curious kid' rug.

"What's wrong, Conan?" Ayumi's worried voice brought Shinichi out of his thoughts. "This is the right bus to go back to school, don't worry!" she finished cheerfully as she pointed to the route number taped up on a piece of paper above their seat.

"Hey Genta, how come you still have that guy's card?" came Mitsuhiko's voice from the seat in front of Conan and Ayumi. "I thought you were going to give it to Conan to give back to him when he found the papers."

"Oh, I forgot all about it" was the embarrassed-sounding reply. Genta turned and looked at Conan with a sheepish expression. "Hey, uh, you live pretty close to here don't you Conan?" After Shinichi nodded, he asked "Do you think you could give this back to that guy we were talking to in the library? It fell out of his pocket while he was leaving. I bet that they're staying at the big hotel across the street." Genta fully turned around and passed Shinichi what looked like a high school ID card. The blue-eyed, black-haired boy was wearing a relaxed smile in a picture that half-filled the right side of the somewhat scratched, laminated card. Typed out information and a school logo filled the left half along with a pair of small, worn red stickers that read 'ASB' and 'LIB'.

**Daniel Fenton**

**Casper High**

_Well, now I know one of their names at least. _After studying the card for a few more moments Shinichi also realized that he'd (literally) been handed a golden opportunity to do some poking around while he went to deliver the card. _I might even manage to run into Satou-keiji or Takagi-keiji while I'm there. I guess I'll get Agasa-hakase to drive me to the hotel later this afternoon._


	6. Too Smart, Actually

Thanks to all my watchers and reviewers! Hope you enjoy! Also, I'm looking for some beta readers for some future crossovers; please take a look in my profile and Email me or PM me if interested! Just know that work on those will be much more intermittent as I want to get some of my already posted works finished up first.) :)

* * *

As Danny finished exiting the interview room and shut the door behind him, he knew that he'd somehow managed to dodge an enormous bullet. The biggest question in his mind was how exactly he'd done it. _Detective Takagi really had me backed into a corner in there...I thought I was going to have to actually admit that I'd seen a ghost. _Danny also hadn't liked how closely the detective had studied him for the first few moments of their meeting, as if the older man had been trying to place him from somewhere else. As he pushed the up button for the elevator in the lobby and waited for the ding that signaled its arrival, Danny also found himself wondering about how he could get in touch with this mysterious white-clad 'flying person' who had also been in the area at the time of the murder. Odds were that they hadn't actually seen anything, but you never knew. _Sam sounded like she caught a pretty good look at a guy that was dressed in white- well, he was wearing a white top hat, at least. I'll ask her more about what she saw once I'm back upstairs. _He nodded once in agreement with himself as a ding signaled the arrival of an elevator.

"Danny! There you are." Sam greeted her friend with a smile as he entered the hotel room that the three of them were sharing. "What did Detective Takagi want?"

"He wanted to go over what I saw again." Danny slunk down into the large sofa that Tucker was occupying the other end of. "That guy might be a little_ too_ smart, actually. I think he recognized me from last night, even if he didn't realize it." Of course, Saguru Hakuba was _also_ a little too nosy for Danny's taste, but that was a different person and a different subject.

Sam cocked her eyebrow and turned her attention fully to Danny. "What makes you say that?"

"Oh man," interrupted Tucker after he studied Danny's worried expression. "Don't tell me that Detective Takagi is the same guy who ran into you at Akai's office while you were poking around."

"You know it," sighed Danny in reply while he picked up and glanced over some of the translated articles Tucker had printed out. He didn't particularly feel like going into the conversation he'd had with the police at the moment. "Did you guys find anything useful while I was gone?"

"Nothing yet, but we're only about halfway through this stuff. This guy sure did keep himself busy." Tucker seemed to recall something suddenly, his face brightening. "Hey, that's right! Did you hear the good news yet?"

"Uh, no. What good news?" Danny looked at Sam and Tucker in turn, wondering just what was going on.

"It doesn't sound like the police want us leaving anytime soon, so we'll hopefully have longer than eight days here to try and help Takeo." Sam was about to explain things in more detail when the trio heard a knock on their door. Danny got up to answer it and found his dad on the other side of the door.

"Heya, kids! How's that essay thingy going?" Jack walked in and shut the door behind him as his expression turned serious. "Maddie and I are calling everybody's parents to let them know what's going on and that we may be here for longer than eight days because of it, which is why I dropped by. We need to make sure that everybody's phone numbers are right." He pulled out a photocopied sheet of paper and put it down on the table.

"The essay's going fine, Dad. We're up to four pages already," Danny explained as Sam and Tucker verified their numbers_. _"We're trying to get it done pretty early." _After all, the quicker we get this essay out of the way, the more time we'll have to try and track down that ghost. _

"That's the spirit!" Jack folded the piece of paper back up and headed to the door with a wave and a grin. "See ya later- I need to go check everyone else's numbers," he finished as he stepped back out into the hallway and shut the door behind him.

As soon as the door finished shutting and Jack's footsteps began echoing down the hallway, Danny recalled that he'd wanted to ask Sam about the person she'd seen looking out the window. "Hey Sam, do you remember anything more about that guy in the white top hat that you saw last night? The one that was on the news this morning?"

"Sorry, but he was only in the window for a couple seconds." Sam shrugged. "I don't even know if it was that guy for sure, either. All I could really see was a white top hat." She noticed the intent look on Danny's face and grew curious. "Did you run across him today or something?"

Danny decided that it was probably best to fully explain everything. "Well, when Detective Takagi was questioning me they asked me about what I'd seen, I...wound up kinda having to tell them that I'd seen someone flying." He continued quickly to preempt any questions. "The weird thing was that neither one of them seemed to think it was strange when I mentioned a white-colored person flying." Danny looked down at the floor and thought back to the conversation, realizing something as he looked back up at his friends. "In fact, they seemed to think they knew exactly who I was talking about, and they just let me go after that. I'm wondering if it's that guy you saw poking his head out the window."

"Well, maybe we should try and track that guy down and see if he knows anything or saw anything?" asked Tucker. "Couldn't hurt to try, anyway."

"Where are those newspapers from this morning? Since the TV news had the guy on it, maybe there'll be something on him in them too." Danny began digging through the piles of papers that they had laid out on the table.

* * *

"Agasa-hakase, I need a favor." Shinichi had called the professor from his room as soon as Ran finished leaving for one of her karate lessons. "Can you take me down to the Akibara Hotel as soon as possible? I have something I need to return to a guest staying there." _And with any luck, I'll get a chance to poke around this guy's room, too. _Shinichi found himself growing more and more curious about Daniel Fenton's interest in the homicide. Sure the guy was a witness, but Shinichi had this funny feeling in his gut that Daniel's witnessing the crime wasn't the _only_ reason for the other boy's investigation, and Shinichi trusted that gut instinct above most anything else.

"Oh! Isn't that hotel close to where that businessman got pushed out the window last night?"

"Yep. It's right across the street from it, actually." Shinichi studied Daniel's ID card, flipping it over and noticing that his signature was on the back of it. "A tourist staying there dropped his school I.D. card at the library, and Genta gave it to me to return to him since I live the closest to the hotel."

"He was at the library? What was a tourist doing at the library?" Agasa sounded surprised and somewhat puzzled.

"That's what I'd like to know." Shinichi's eyes narrowed as he tucked the card back into his pocket. "And it wasn't _just_ him, either. There were two others with him- a guy and a girl. And if their research material was anything to go by, they were looking into anyone that had business dealings with the victim, Yorinoko Akai."

"Interesting. It sounds like they're trying to investigate his murder themselves." Shinichi could hear keys rattling as Agasa finished the sentence. "I'll be right over to drive you."

"We need to try and get him to let us into his room if possible," began Shinichi as soon as he'd hopped into Agasa's passenger seat a few minutes later. "I'd really like to take a look around to try and figure out what's interesting them so much."

"Well, we can certainly try." Agasa pulled away from the curb and headed towards an intersection. "Have you managed to talk to Satou-keiji or Takagi-keiji yet? I'm sure that they've interviewed all of those witnesses by now."

"Not yet. That's another thing that I'm hoping to take care of while we're there." Shinichi settled into the seat and looked out the window. "I'd really like to ask Takagi-keiji about what he saw in Yorinoko's office last night, too." _There's no such thing as a ghost, but what the heck did he see? _Shinichi figured that it might have been some kind of projection, but that wouldn't explain how things had been opened and moved around by the 'ghost' since projections were just light shows.

The rest of the short ride passed in silence, and the pair walked into the hotel before approaching a large, elegant marble-fronted counter in the lobby. A smiling young male clerk immediately approached them and asked how he could help them.

"We're looking for a guest here, actually. He dropped his ID card at the library." Agasa took the card from Shinichi and handed it to the clerk.

"I'll check and see if we have anyone by this name staying here." He bowed slightly and then turned towards a computer terminal to his left, where he began punching in information. "Ahh, it does look like we have someone with this name staying here. If you'll leave this here we'll call up to his room and-"

"Umm, can you call them and see if we can deliver it to them right now?" After the clerk gave him a puzzled expression, Shinichi offered his best 'innocent kid' expression. "Well, it's for his school, right? So it must be really important, and I wanna make sure that he gets it back." _Ugh...that sounded really dorky even to me. _Shinichi just hoped that the clerk would buy into it._  
_

"I see," replied the clerk with a smile. "Well, I'll call up there and see if he'll let you bring it to him, OK?" He picked up a phone and punched some numbers into it. "Hello, this is the front lobby. Is Daniel Fenton available?" he asked in near-perfect English after a couple of seconds had passed. "You left a student ID card down at the library, and a little boy came by with someone to drop it off. He'd like to know if he can come up and give it to you himself instead of leaving it at the counter."The clerk nodded at what was being said. "OK, I'll send them up then. Thank you." He hung up the phone and grabbed a piece of paper, writing something down before handing it to Agasa along with the card. "Here's his room number, and the elevators are behind you and to the right there."

"Thank you." Agasa looked down at Shinichi. "Shall we go up to Daniel's room, then?"


	7. Man in the Hat

A big, heartfelt thanks to too-much-romance, whose wonderfully enthusiatic reviews have made this plot bunny shove his way to the front of the line! And thanks to all my incredibly patient regular readers and reviewers as well! I'm sorry for the overall lack of updates; real life has been attacking. However, one of my New year's resolutions is to update much, much more frequently going forward.

* * *

"Here we are- Room 3012." Agasa knocked firmly on the door after the comment. The sound of muffled, shuffling feet on the other side of the door was quickly followed by the crisp snap of the door's knob turning before Daniel Fenton opened it, the teen offering a grateful smile to both of them. "Thanks for bringing my school card all the way here. It's a real pain to have to get them replaced."

Shinichi's mind worked furiously for a couple of seconds as he peered into the room, giving Danny the same cheery expression he'd used on the clerk downstairs along with a happy nod. He then turned to Agasa with a quick 'cover me' look as he let his child's mask slip back into place. "Is there a bathroom in there?" Shinichi deliberately asked the question in Japanese, hoping to leave the other boy with the impression that he wasn't fully bilingual. _After all, he or one of his friends might accidentally let something slip in front of me assuming I won't understand it...and that might be to my advantage at some point._

This got a chuckle out of Agasa, who gave Shinichi a nod of understanding before offering Danny a polite half-bow. "You're very welcome, Daniel; Conan here wanted to make sure that you got it." He managed to make himself look slightly sheepish. "I'm sorry, but could I please trouble you to let Conan use your restroom if you have one?"

"Oh!" Danny laughed and nodded, stepping aside to let the two in. "Yeah, sure. It's the door to your left just up ahead there." He waved to his left as they stepped in, also loosely indicating what looked like a large pile of newspaper articles and documents heaped up and around a coffee table. "Sorry about the mess- we're in the middle of a research project."

_Yeah, I know you guys are researching. What I want to know is _why _you guys are spending so much time looking into the victim__. _As Shinichi let his keenly trained eyes gloss over the papers while he passed them, he realized to his puzzlement that at least one of the piles contained what looked like a bunch of funeral notices from different newspapers. _Obituaries__? This keeps getting weirder and weirder... _As soon as he flushed the toilet to give the appearance of using the restroom, Shinichi was shaking his head in disagreement with his initial thought that they might be random, his intuition whispering in his ear. _No, that can't be right__.__ I really doubt they're random, but what's the connection? __Dead people can't commit murder- unless it's someone else assuming the dead person's identity, that is. _He turned on the sink and let it run a bit, his mind mulling over the various possibilities. When he shut off the sink after what he deemed a long enough time, Shinichi overheard a name that piqued his interest even further._  
_

_"_Hey, Danny, did that Saguru guy call you back while we were gone?" This was asked by an unfamiliar, feminine voice.

_Saguru? Could they be talking about _Hakuba_ Saguru? _Shinichi opened the door, deciding it was time to play the role of innocent, curious child in order to get whatever names he could from those obituary sheets- and to try and figure out if they were indeed talking about the half-British meitantei.

"Saguru? Hakuba Saguru?" Shinichi kept his tone bright and inquisitive. "I met him!" _Get them talking...keep them distracted... _He paused by the stack of obituaries with his back to Agasa, giving the older man a 'keep going' circular motion with one of the hands he tucked behind his back. The meitantei then quickly pointed towards the papers with that same hand, hoping that Agasa would pick up on what he was trying to convey.

"Actually, yeah. That's him," replied Danny with a nod and an arched eyebrow. "Tall blonde guy with a British accent and a hawk? You've met him?" Danny turned to the girl that Shinichi had seen him with in the library earlier and nodded his head. "I did, Sam, but he hasn't called back yet. He might be in school or something. I'm sure he'll call back when he has a chance."

Shinichi feigned puzzlement, then turned to Agasa for a translation that he didn't really need. After the older man took a few steps in such a way as to at least partially block the view of the table from the three teenagers, Shinichi quickly began going through the stack of obituaries, frantically scribbling the names that he could find down in a notebook. _Don't have an excuse to stay in here much longer...gah!_

"So," began Agasa with a broad smile, "how are you children enjoying Japan so far? Well, aside from getting mixed up in this awful murder, that is."

There was a knock at the door after Agasa asked the question, a familiar, slightly superior-sounding voice drifting through the door. "Mr. Fenton? Are you in there? It's Saguru Hakuba."

"Just a sec." Danny gave Sam and Tucker an 'I don't know' look and shrug before walking over and opening the door.

"Thank you," began Saguru as he walked into the room. "I believe you left me a phone message?"

"Uh, yeah I did call. I didn't mean for you to actually show up here, though." Danny edged slightly towards the door.

"Mmm, I prefer to do my talking face to face when I can. If you don't mind, that is." Saguru glanced briefly at the others in the room, offering Shinichi a polite half-smile and nod after he saw him. "Hello, Conan. It's been a while." He then fully turned to Danny. "Was I interrupting something?"

"Just a bunch of paperwork" shrugged Tucker as he pointed at the pile of papers on the table, which Shinichi was in the process of quickly moving away from. "A big school project we've gotta do as part of going on this trip."

Saguru quickly walked over to the table as Shinichi finished moving away from it, his expression moving from neutral to mildly curious as he studied the articles. He then looked at Sam, Tucker and Danny in turn, eyes filled with suspicion. "That must be a very...interesting school project." He maintained an even tone, but there was no mistaking the accusation in it.

_He's figured out that they're up to something, too. _Of course, Shinichi really hadn't expected anything less from his fellow meitantei. He studied the trio of Americans closely from where he was standing behind Agasa and Saguru, wondering what their reply to Saguru's not-question question would be.

"_Busssssted_," whispered Tucker quietly into Danny's ear as he leaned over towards Danny a bit, still looking at thier visitors.

_I knew this guy was gonna be nothing but trouble! Gah! _Danny felt a pack of leaden butterflies suddenly migrate en masse into his stomach as the blonde waited for an answer. _It's not like I can deny that we're looking into the dead guy, either - not when he's already had an eyeful of obituaries and shady business dealings. _He decided that honesty was probably the best policy, even if he was only being honest because they'd been caught red-handed. "We're looking at some stuff about the victim. We were, uh, curious is all."

Saguru shifted his eyes towards the table full of papers behind him for a moment. "That's a rather large pile of curiosity, Mr. Fenton." He loosely indicated the hotel room door with a gesture of his hand. "I believe you and I should have a little chat before I head back to the detectives." The manner in which Saguru spoke indicated that he wasn't giving Danny a choice in the matter.

_Looks like he wants it to be just the two of them. _Shinichi dug into his backpack, producing one of Agasa's sticky listening devices as he wandered over closer to Saguru. _Sorry Hakuba, but I have a feeling this conversation will be too interesting to pass up listening in on. _He carefully edged a little closer to the other detective before quickly unwrapping the sticky bug with his back turned to everyone. This was followed by him 'accidentally' tripping, pressing the translucent bug into the back of Saguru's heel before Shinichi helped himself up, shrugging off assistance with a carefully childlike smile.

* * *

_Let's start by you telling me what you _really_ saw that night, Mr. Fenton._

As Danny flew high through the night skies of the Beika district, heading in what he hoped was the direction of a now abandoned, burned out building that Akai Yorinoko was supposed to have had a hand in destroying, his mind was half on his mission and half on how he could get the rather dogged Saguru Hakuba off of his heels. He was very careful to keep himself invisible as he continued to soar at a high altitude, looking down at the ground and trying to make sure that he didn't overshoot his target. Of course, this little gambit also depended on luck...depended on the man who had died in that fire sticking around after his death.

_I told you what I saw!_

_No, Mr. Fenton. You didn't tell us what you saw; you took an assumption that Detective Takagi made and ran with it- a little _too _eagerly, I might add. I just played along._

"Should've known that he let me off too easy at first," Danny muttered under his breath as he landed in what he hoped was the correct abandoned building_, _staying intangible and invisible so he could look around without fear of being spotted or knocking things over. As he continued to survey the damage, he nodded to himself. _Burn marks on the walls and scorched stuff everywhere...this looks like the place, all right. _Even with only the somewhat dull streetlamp light to help him, he could still see several skeletons of warped, twisted metal filing cabinets and large, rusty metal desks in the neatly spaced rooms that told the tale of what the place used to be. From what they'd been able to find in newspapers it had been a small office complex until a fire had roared through with strange intensity and burned up everything in the place- including an unfortunate janitor who had been working an unusually late shift that evening. The fire had been ruled an arson, though the police didn't suspect that the janitor's death had been intended at all.

_It was someone in white, just like I said._

_I don't think it was some_one_, Mr. Fenton.__ I'm beginning to suspect that it was some_thing_..._

"Who are you? What do you want?"

Danny jumped slightly at the male voice issuing from the Babelfish in his pocket before he remembered that he had it with him. He then looked around for the source of the ghostly-sounding voice that had triggered the translation in the first place, growing a little frustrated when he didn't see anything. He began turning himself in a slow circle, eyes still darting around the building searching as he mentally prepared for a fight, if it came to it. "I'm looking for Masato Hayagawa. I need to talk to him about something."

"You mean Akai doin' a swandive through his window?" This was followed by bitter, spectral laughter before a ghost shimmered into appearance in front of Danny, a slightly plump middle-aged man still wearing the janitorial uniform he'd died in. His hardened eyes looked Danny up and down warily, the ghostly mop he was carrying slung over his shoulder. "Who are you, and what're you lookin' for me for?"

"My name is Phantom- Danny Phantom. And I was trying to find out more about Akai Yorinoko's death, actually." He kept his tone even, hoping that this ghost would be at least somewhat cooperative. There was a silence that lingered for several moments after the Babelfish finished translating.

"You're tryin' to help that guy they arrested then? Suziboshi Takeo?" Masato's stance relaxed a little as he asked the question curiously, the mop sliding down his arm until the mop end met the floor.

Danny nodded, hoping that the relaxation was a good sign. "I'm going to try. I saw a ghost fly out of him- I know that he was overshadowed. I'm trying to figure out who did it."

"Got ya." Masato nodded in approval and shrugged before beginning to 'mop' the floor, apparently purely out of impulse or habit. "G' luck with that, and I really mean that. Everyone that knew him hated the bastard."

"I've kind of noticed." Danny sighed, feeling like he was getting nowhere in a hurry. "So you haven't heard anything, I guess."

"Nope, sorry. I'd help if I could- guy doesn't deserve to be in prison when he didn't do it." He then stopped mopping long enough to turn and face Danny. "I didn't do it, if you're wondering. It was my fault that I was here so late that night. I kinda caught a nap for an hour or two and had to make up the time...I shoulda been long gone by the time the place went up." Masato shrugged. "I don't think he meant me- or anyone else- to actually be killed or hurt." He suddenly seemed to get an idea, brightening a little and snapping his fingers. "You could ask the guy with the top hat!"

_Guy with a top hat? Lemme guess... _"Does he dress entirely in white?"

"Naw, not that guy. The ghost that travels with him sometimes." He went back to mopping the floor. "Wears the same kinda hat though."


	8. Curious Child

Thanks to my awesome readers and reviewers! :) Time to get rocking on writing again! Keep an eye out for some of my older fics to be dusted off and rewritten for better sentence structure and get updates as well. :) Enjoy, and thanks again to my readers and reviewers!

* * *

_Yeah, there's _definitely_ something going on here that I'm not understanding._

Shinichi hated that feeling more than anything else- the moments when he could tell that there was some piece of the puzzle that hadn't been found or fit into place yet during his investigations. He especially disliked it when it felt like it wasn't because the piece was lost or tucked away in some obsure corner in the back of a dresser drawer, but because it was his fault - perhaps he had it in his hand and was sitting there trying to put it in the wrong way, or maybe he was even trying to use a piece from another puzzle entirely.

He finished packing the homework he'd completed into his backpack and then pulled out headphones and a CD player containing the conversation that Agasa's bug had recorded earlier inside it on a disc, thanks to Shinichi squishing it into the back of Saguru's heel. He was thankful that he'd managed to plant the bug successfully before the two had left the room. As Shinichi pressed 'Play', a frown of concentration cracked his child's mask. Daniel Fenton's voice faded in first:

_What do you mean 'something'? It was someone...someone in white, like I told you._

_And how _exactly _was this 'someone' dressed, Mr. Fenton?_

As he paused the conversation between Danny and Saguru to mull it over, Shinichi couldn't help but notice how on edge the American seemed. _Hakuba really had him running scared the entire time...but scared of what, exactly? _His eyes narrowed as Shinichi continued ponder the implications. _And just what exactly was Hakuba trying to get at? _He was_ also_ left with the very distinct impression that the half-Brit had been trying to steer the conversation in a certain direction- as if Saguru knew something already that he was merely trying to get Danny to admit to. The shrunken meitantei pressed the play button again, the frown deepening as he took in the conversation that he probably could have just recited from memory by now.

_Uh, it was dark and raining pretty hard that night, remember? I really couldn't make too much out. _The sudden outburst from Danny came after a couple seconds of silence, and Shinichi recognized the paniced tone of someone grabbing onto an idea like it was a life raft in the middle of the ocean and clinging for dear life when he heard it. He _also_ knew that Hakuba Saguru was no slouch and had likely picked up on that distress as well. _All I could see for sure was a white top hat and a big cape..._

That outfit, of course, wouldn't be in the average person's wardrobe, and Shinichi figured that Saguru being in the area at the time along with that description could only mean one particularly wily thief-slash-magician: Kaitou Kid. He tapped his chin as he unconsciously lipsynched to Saguru's reply.

_I think you saw a good deal more than that, Mr. Fenton. Or at the very least, something that you don't want to admit seeing. _

Shinichi nodded to himself as the recording paused thanks to the prolonged silence in the conversation. The other meitantei had _definitely_ had some kind of idea in mind, no doubt about it. He continued to play the recording, glad he'd finally gotten the data on to a CD with some help from Agasa. He could almost feel the tension between the two speakers steadily rising as the CD continued to gently hiss along with the sound of rain until Saguru broke the silence with a firm-sounding question:

_You_ do_ realize, Mr. Fenton, that deliberately witholding information about a crime is a crime in and of itself in most countries?_

_Yeah, I do. _He sounded almost defensive at first, though the tone changed to be more neutral as Danny continued. _Look, I want to help, alright? Like I've told you already, the person they arrested didn't do it._

_Then I highly suggest that you start being fully honest with the police, Mr. Fenton. Detective Takagi and Detective Satou are both certain that you're hiding something from them- as am I, I might add. _Shinichi could almost hear the glare Saguru must have leveled Danny as he spoke.

_Can you please do me a favor and stop calling me 'Mr. Fenton'? I'm Danny. _This was followed by what sounded like a frustrated sigh. _To be honest, I'm really not sure exactly what I saw, aside from the white hat and cape. Really, that's all- I'm just not sure of what I saw. But I know for sure it wasn't the guy they arrested..._

_Hmm. Well...Danny, you had better tell the police what you saw as best as you can, then. _There was a pause in between the 'Well and 'Danny,' as if Saguru had been rolling the nickname around on the inside of his mouth and didn't like the taste.

"Conan-kun! What are you listening to in here?" Shinichi gave a start, jumping in his seat a bit before he realized that Ran had gently removed his headphones from his head after coming into his room. "I've been calling you for dinner for a while," she added with a maternal smile as she placed the headphones down, the now-muffled talk that Shinichi had been listening too still coming through the earphones. Ran reached over and snapped off the CD player before patting Shinichi on the top of the head and ruffling his hair lightly. "You can listen to it again after you've had dinner, OK?"

Shinichi nodded, offering the childike grin he'd gotten so used to giving by now. "Thanks, Ran-neechan! I'll go eat right away." As he followed her out to the kitchen and began eating the mix of hotate and hirame sushi that Ran had made, he found his mind turning more and more towards a certain American high school student. _Just what is he up to? All those obituaries in his hotel room were a little creepy...and a lot suspicious. _As he continued to eat, Shinichi made up his mind: Edogawa Conan, curious child who could usually get away with poking his nose where it didn't belong, was going to do his best to try and figure out just what Daniel Fenton was up to, and more importantly, _why_.

* * *

"I'm tellin' you guys, that Saguru Hakuba guy is on me like white on rice." Danny let out a sigh and shook his head as he took another sip of the miso soup that he and Tucker had ordered a large bowl of to split for dinner, looking around and keeping his voice low as he sipped from his smaller, individual bowl. "You should have heard some of the the questions he was asking me, including whether or not I knew witholding information was a crime. I'm just glad that he had to leave before he asked me too much more."

"Well, hate to break it to ya, but it kinda _is_ illegal, at least if you're knowingly sittin' on the intel," Tucker replied as he reached for the ladel inside the large bowl of soup to scoop himself some more. He then looked at the ceiling with a thoughful expression. "Dunno if that's true when the perp's six feet under, though."

"Except he-" Sam paused with her special sandwich halfway to her mouth, thinking about it- "well, or she isn't six feet under. They're running around and causing someone innocent to be charged with murder." She finished her bite of food, giving Tucker and Danny both a serious look.

'What's that look for? I think all three of us know how bad this is." Danny drummed his fingers on the table lightly, a thoughful and somewhat frustrated look on his face for a few moments. "I just wish I could come up with a way to point them to the truth without winding up in a loony bin."

"Well, did you talk to that ghost yet that the janitor guy told you about last night- the one he said follows the guy in the white suit around sometimes? It's better than nothing, right?" Tucker shrugged as he finished off his bowl. His eyes suddenly grew wide as he snapped his fingers with a grin. "Oh yeah! I found something on that guy, by the way. Well, uh, the one that's alive at least, the one we saw on the TV. Sounds like he's a thief- a thief that does magic tricks while he's stealing." Tucker pulled out a file folder. "Check out all this stuff on him." He waved the folder in the air before placing it in front of Danny, pointing to the picture of a white-suited young man wearing a white top hat and a devilish grin on the front of the file. "I gotta give 'em credit though, the guy's got style. That is one _seriously_ snazzy set of threads."

"Magic tricks while he's stealing?" Danny followed up the confused question by opening the file and beginning to flip through the pages, his soup forgotten as he continued to skim through the exploits of International Criminal 1412, also known as Kaitou Kid. "This guy is either crazy, or really good." After a few more moments of perusing the thief's exploits, the halfa cocked an eyebrow as he took in the details of Kaitou Kid's many heists. "Okay, maybe it's a little of both."

"The bad news is that the police aren't even close to catching this guy. He's a master of disguise, and there's really no clues. BUT," Tucker added with the big grin he was wearing earlier, "we can definitely arrange a meeting. Well, sorta. At least, I think we can."

"What do you mean, Tucker?" Sam leaned forward slightly, scanning the folder Danny was looking at with her eyes.

"This guy's a little odd, but it's to our advantage," began Tucker as he tugged on the file that Danny was looking at. "May I?" After Danny pushed the file back Tucker's way, Tucker flipped to a few pages that had what looked like photocopies of Japanese writing accompanied by strange little doodles that all involved what looked to be small, cartoonish drawings of the thief. "See, he enjoys letting the police know exactly what he's going to steal, but he only tells them in riddles- these notes. They've never been able to stop him, but they always know where he's going to be at a certain date and time."

"I get it. So whenever he steals something next, we can try and show up to talk to the ghost that's tailing him." Danny nodded, liking the idea already. "I wonder if he's going to plan another heist anytime soon..."

"Aaaaaaand _that's_ where we win the awesome Jackpot O'Luck," grinned Tucker as he flipped to another page. "He'll probably be right back where his last heist was in the next day or two. 'Cause, y'see the other odd thing about this 'Kaitou Kid' guy is that he _always _returns what he steals."

"Say..._what_?" Sam gave Tucker an incredulous look.

"Doesn't that, y'know...kinda negate the entire point of stealing the stuff in the first place?" Danny's confusion was reflected in his tone.

"You're tellin' me," shrugged Tucker before pointing to more pages. "But that's the truth. Everything he ever steals, the owners find it right back where he took it from a day or two later, three days later at most."

"Well, I guess it is weird, but like you said it's lucky for us," nodded Danny as he thought it over. "So I guess all we have to do is figure out where his last heist was...and wait."


	9. Return Gone Wrong

:) Enjoy, and thanks again to my readers and reviewers! Happy Holidays! Sorry it's a bit short, but felt like a good place to leave off.

* * *

_OK, Kaitou Kid. Show up here already, will ya?_ Danny glanced down at his watch with an impatient sigh before looking around the area again. _At least I sure hope you haven't suddenly decided to change your mind about returning what you take, because if you have I'm gonna have to figure out some other way to help this guys out. _He studied the building he was hoping the bizarre, flashy thief would show up to_, _splitting his time between watching the cracked, weather-darkened cement roof of said building and watching the starry skies above him as he invisibly hovered in midair above the place. _Then I've gotta go over and look around Akai's lawyer's office on the other side of town after this..._

A noise below him drew his attention, and Danny saw the white glider that he'd been hoping to see for over an hour expertly come to a stop right smack dab in the middle of the roof before Kaitou Kid popped it over his head and quickly began disassembling it. Danny lowered his altitude to investigate, very happy for once to have his 'ghost sense' trigger, the breath quickly forming in his chest before the familiar wispy, icy blue puff of breath appeared from his mouth. _The ghost I need to talk to is hopefully with him, then...need to figure out which one of them stuck their head out the window and find out what they saw, if anything._

Danny felt a tap on his shoulder suddenly and he quickly turned around with fists firmly clenched and adrenaline racing, fully expecting a fight. Instead, he found himself face to face with a widely grinning, black-mustached man wearing a large white top hat. The spectral man then proceeded to reach towards Danny's ear, producing a ghostly string of tied handkerchiefs from Danny's ear before somehow tucking the whole long string into his breast pocket with a loud, booming laugh.

Taking a deep breath or two to try and dispel the adrenaline rush he'd just had, Danny backed up a little from the other ghost, studying the intangible white top hat and perfectly tailored white suit the apparition was wearing. Danny finally decided to let his guard down slightly as he realized that his search might have come to an end, his body relaxing slightly as his hands reopened. _This sure looks like the guy I was after...the other ghost mentioned him wearing a top hat._

"I think you were maybe looking for me?" asked the ghost in perfect English as he continued to grin almost like a Cheshire cat. He then removed his hat, revealing a head of somewhat bushy, messy short black hair as he gave Danny a showy bow. He then straightened out and put his hat back on, a slightly more serious expression crossing the ghost's face as he looked Danny up and down with highly intelligent eyes. "You've been here for a while, and so have I. I saw you earlier and I figured you'd still be in about the same spot. Looks like I was right." He then studied Danny a little more, cocking an eyebrow. "Hrrm...aren't you an interesting one. Your aura doesn't look like any ghost's that I've ever seen before."

Danny nodded slowly, closing the distance between the two of them slightly. Hoping that he could derail the current topic of conversation before it arrived at Uncomfortable Question Station, he decided to get right to the reason he'd been waiting. "I think you or that guy down there-" he paused to point down at Kaitou Kid, who was busy jimmying an air vent to gain access- "might have seen something related to a murder that a ghost did a few days ago. A ghost overshadowed the guy they arrested, and I'm trying to help him."

The other ghost nodded before tilting his head. "I don't believe we've made our introductions yet." He grinned again before offering a bow of his head and a tilt of his hat. "Toichi at your service." Kuroba Toichi deliberately avoided giving Danny his last name.

"Danny Phantom," replied Danny with a polite nod of his own head.

"Good to meet you, Danny," Toichi replied with a smile before he glanced down to watch Kaitou Kid's progress. "If you're talking about that man getting pushed out the window, I remember it all too well. I heard the noise and popped my head out when I heard the big crash and saw him fall." He then tilted his head a little. "I also saw the ghost fly out of him, but I couldn't see thier face, which is what I'm sure you were after."

_Bah. Back to Square One, then... _Danny tapped his chin a few times in thought as he looked down, watching Kaitou Kid finish his break-in. _Hmm...guess I could try and stop him. Then again, he is actually returning something instead of taking it... _Danny debated it internally for a few more moments before deciding that he had much bigger fish to fry than the strange thief- like a murderous ghost that was who knew where right now. He looked back up at Toichi, an idea suddenly springing into his head. "Is there anything at all that sticks out in your mind about the ghost? Anything at all would help, the guy had just as many dead enemies as living ones from what I've been able to find out."

"Hrmm." Toichi looked skyward as he rubbed his chin before snapping his gloved fingers. "That's right, I remember now! There was this..._thing_ trailing along behind them. It looked like a big, billowing boat sail or something- I remember trying to figure out what the heck it was when they were flying off." He nodded before looking down. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some urgent business to attend to." Toichi quickly flew down, phasing in through the roof of the building Kaitou Kid had entered.

_So just why are you tagging along with this guy, anyhow? _Danny decided to sate his curiosity, at least partially in hopes of being able to ask Toichi a few more questions if he could manage to catch the ghost's attention again. He flew down and phased into the roof of the building as well after going invisible again, trying not to be noticed. From the ceiling, Danny watched Kaitou Kid carefully, expertly wind his way through the museum, dodging the security lasers and other various tripwires throughout the place.

Toichi was right on the thief's heels with a somewhat worried look, a spectral guardian gliding behind the thief silently and invisibly. The other ghost's eyes roved around the room as Kaitou Kid continued his careful progress towards the display case that he intended to return the gem to. The place was staggeringly large and richly appointed, almost museum-like in size and how the precious objects within were set out and displayed. Red velvet curtains and gold walls were the backdrop for an equally ostentatious assortment of paintings, jewels and a few scattered objects d'arte. The low lighting caused all kinds shadows to play across the objects and the walls.

_Interesting...he definitely looks like he's protecting Kaitou Kid, or at least trying to. But why? _Danny was then distracted by his ghost breath triggering again. This time, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end as he looked around, adrenaline beginning to surge through his veins as he scanned the perimeter, flipping down so he was no longer crawling along upside-down on the ceiling. _OK, _that_ one definitely wasn't triggered by Toichi.  
_He frantically continued to look everywhere that he could without moving so as to not give his position away. _So who are you, new ghost? Where are you? And what are you doing here?_

The next thing that Danny saw was a large marble Renaissance female bust fly across the room, aimed in the direction of Kaitou Kid. Purely out of instinct, Danny rapidly flew down and placed himself squarely between the thief and the bust, throwing up a ghostly force shield wall to stop the statue. The statue fell to the floor with a heavy thud, Danny's body jarring a little with the force of the impact even through his shield. The flying bust also had apparently triggered the motions sensor alarms in the process, causing Kaitou Kid and Toichi to both flee towards the rope that the thief had rappelled down on. The collection of swords that came flying towards the rope and sliced it into ribbons cut that plan a little short, though.

"Get him out of here! I'll try and hold this ghost off. Go NOW!" Toichi was yelling over at Danny while he was standing on the other side of the museum, inspecting the wall of empty sheaths that the swords had been sitting in. The thief still looked utterly stunned and out of sorts even after trying to flee to the rope, staring at Danny with shock and confusion that could be seen in his movements and his eyes. Kaitou Kid didn't seem to be able to see or hear Toichi, Danny noticed, but he supposed that Toichi was probably still invisible - or more likely, Kaitou Kid was too distracted by the ghost right in front of his face to notice the one behind him.

Danny then decided there was no time to waste, zoomed forward and overshadowed the thief, feeling the familiar sensation of bending and shrinking that initially accompanied him forcing himself into someone's body. As he began stretching out and settling into Kaitou Kid's body, he could also feel the total panic and resistance that usually came with the territory of overshadowing someone unwillingly. Danny began flying back up through the opened air vent after dropping the gem that Kaitou Kid had been going to return to the floor, hoping that he wouldn't get forcibly ejected in midair as he fought the thief's resistance. _Sorry about this, but I've got no choice right now if you want to get out of here safely- t__hat other ghost may have a little better aim with the next thing they throw at you. _

Meanwhile, watching from a police car that was speeding to the scene as they saw the strange sight of Kaitou Kid ascending and flying off without any sort of glider or visible assistance at a very high rate of speed, Hakuba Saguru's eyes narrowed before he turned to Nakamori Ginzo. "Well _that's_ certainly a new one for him, isn't it?" the meitantei asked evenly as they began trying to tail the fast-flying Magician of the Moonlight.

_Okay...now, where do I leave this guy? _Danny looked over the landscape of Tokyo below him as he kept one hand on the top of Kaitou Kid's top hat so it wouldn't fly off, desperately wishing he was back home at Amity Park right now. At least when he was there, he knew a dozen or more places that he could leave someone that he'd overshadowed safely. The fact that there also appeared to be a rather angry ghost on the thief's trail really didn't help matters much, either. _Not to mention that car down there that I"m pretty sure is tailing me...it's been following me since I left that building. _Danny decided to try and veer off the main roads and increase his speed to try and shake the car, bending a sharp right and increasing his speed.


	10. Office Visit

Boo! Hope you all enjoy and are doing well!

* * *

"He's still heading straight ahead." Saguru gave direction while Ginzo drove, Saguru trying to keep his attention on the thief. "And no, he 's definitely not using his glider."

"I noticed," replied Ginzo flatly. "Keep telling me where to go so we can go get 'em." This was the first words the pair had spoken since chasing after Kaitou Kid, who seemed to be demonstrating an entirely new trick of some sort this evening. "What the hell is goin' on? This is way out of his usual M.O."

"That's something we probably need to figure out. I do agree there's something very strange going on this evening." Saguru frowned lightly and studied the sky. "He just turned heading left, keibu." Saguru pointed out to the left through the open car window while the cold breeze of briskly moving night air stung his exposed hand and face. Saguru frowned as he continued to study the soaring magician after he tucked his arm back into the car, wondering how exactly the thief was staying airborne. _He doesn't seem to be using a glider...or anything at all to fly, really. However, he _is_ also a master illusionist._ Saguru then frowned as he realized something else. _Why is he sticking to almost the direct middle of the roads? Does he have to have a smooth surface for whatever contraption he's using to fly? _Saguru kept his eyes on Kaitou Kid as he rolled up the window by pressing the window's automatic 'up' button on the door.

"Where the hell's he goin' now?" Ginzo studied the well-maintained road in front of them, thankful that there were very few cars on the road at this late hour.

"I don't know." Puzzlement had slipped into the meitantei's tone, and Ginzo changed a glance over at Saguru while they were at a red light. Saguru was still looking upwards out the passenger seat window with a somewhat unsettled look on his face.

"What do you mean?"

"He vanished." Saguru looked over at Ginzo in reply as his facial expression slowly turned neutral again, the meitantei's tone flat and no-nonsense. "He looked down at us, saw we were waiting on a light and vanished." He cocked an eyebrow slightly, his pitch carefully controlled neutrality as he delivered the next piece of information. "His eyes were also a strange shade of bright green- they seemed to actually be glowing." Saguru then turned his attention skyward as he looked out the window again.

This caused Ginzo to miss the green light that had just changed as he looked over at Saguru with a puzzled, disbelieving scowl. "What do you mean he vanished?" Ginzo then noticed the light and quickly started driving again, refocusing on the road. "And maybe he was wearin' contacts or somethin'. You know how he is."

"I mean he was there one moment and completely gone the next." Saguru then half-nodded in agreement with the keibu's statement as he continued hunting for the thief with his eyes, but his mind was absolutely screaming that there was something very out of the ordinary going on. His gut was also joining in with a rather insistent chorus of 'He actually looked _worried_, Kaitou Kid doesn't _do _worried.' The smell of old, stale cigarettes mixed with vanilla air freshener now that there was no fresh air in the car as the drive continued in what was turning into a fruitless search for International Criminal 1412.

"See 'em again yet?" Ginzo had reached the end of the road, and they were forced to make a left or right turn.

"No I haven't." Saguru then looked out the windshield and noticed that they had to make a left or right turn. He then let out a huff of disappointment as he looked up at the night sky one more time, the master magician-slash-thief nowhere in sight. "I do believe that we've lost him now, Nakamori-keibu. He's absolutely nowhere in sight."

* * *

"Kaito! Are you alright? What's going on? The museum looks like a bomb went off in it and there's police everywhere!"

The older male voice that suddenly spoke in his right ear startled Danny so much that he lost altitude for a second until he recovered. After the Babelfish finished translating, Danny wondered about what was going on. _What the heck...? _He felt his (or rather, the body of the thief he was borrowing's) right ear and realized that there was a tiny earpiece in it. _Wonder who this guy is...guessing he helps out with robberies or something judging by this earpiece. _The wind whistled around Danny gently as he continued to fly in Kaitou Kid's body. He decided to regain altitude and flew back up into the sky a little bit, still maintaining his invisibility as the wind pressed against his body in resistance to his fast forward movement.

"Kaito! Please respond to me!" Danny noticed that the guy sounded very, genuinely worried- well, at least if the impassioned inflection before the Babelfish translated it was anything to go by. _Guess there's only one thing to do...figure out how this earpiece works and see if he speaks English too. If not I'll use the Babelfish... _It was a little difficult with the gloves on, but Danny quickly figured out that the way to work the earpiece was pressing into the piece of it that was nestled in his ear slightly.

"Um, hi." _Maybe this guy can give me a good spot to drop Kid off at, too. I doubt that this guy would be working with someone he doesn't trust..._ There was no reply until the Babelfish finished translation of the greeting. Danny quickly decided to land on a rooftop so that he could focus on the conversation.

"W-who...who is this?" The man sounded completely baffled and confused at Danny's voice- or rather, the Babelfish- replying to him. "How did you get this earpiece?"

Danny decided to dodge the question about who he was. "I, err, borrowed it?" He supposed that technically, that wasn't a lie since he'd 'borrowed' it along with Kaitou Kid himself.

There was a somewhat long silence before the man replied. "This earpiece, where did you find it?"

"At the museum Kaitou Kid was at earlier." Again, not _really _a lie, right?

Another pregnant pause. "Would you, err, mind returning it to me?"

_I'll be returning a lot more than that, whoever you are. _"Sure. Where do you want to meet?" _Assuming I can find the place. _Danny scanned the rooftops he was flying across, still holding onto Kaitou Kid's hat with his free hand. He also planned on sticking around invisibly for a bit to make sure this guy was really an ally of the thief that Kaitou Kid was working with willingly- that and also making sure that whatever ghost had attacked in the museum hadn't tailed them.

"Go to the park that's about two blocks away from the museum. You'll see an alley there to the east between two big warehouses. I'll be parked in front of it." He still sounded a little nervous and worried, but Danny understood that.

Hoping that he remembered the direction to head to, Danny turned around while looking around for the police cruiser that had been tailing him earlier before he'd caught a lucky break and the car had to stop for a red light. _Lucky that invisibility still works when I'm overshadowing someone.._. The halfa re-approached the museum, which looked just as packed with police as the man on the earpiece had indicated. He swooped down slightly slower, sweeping the area with his eyes for the park he'd been directed to. Danny then finally spotted the park the guy must have been referring to- he could see the alleyway tucked away between two buildings, and an old-looking white van parked in front of it. Danny decided to land in the darkness of the alleyway before releasing Kaitou Kid from his forced servitude, shrinking back down and withdrawing out of his body while immediately going invisible after doing so. The thief staggered for a second and shook his head, clearly trying to shake off the lightheadedness and disorientation that came with being freed from a ghost's grip.

"Jii?" The thief seemed to regain his bearings quickly, though he sounded a little dazed and confused. He walked towards the van at the end of the alleyway, relief and confusion both written all over his body language. He looked around with a somewhat confused expression before an older man quickly emerged from the van and half-ran to Kaitou Kid.

"Kaito! Thank goodness. What happened? Where have you been? There was a strange voice using your headset earlier..."

_OK, that's gotta be the guy I was talking to earlier. _Danny watched the quiet conversation between the two, floating above them while staying invisible and intangible just in case anything went wrong. He then tilted his head a little as he noticed something. _Just calls 'em Kaitou instead of Kaitou Kid, eh?_

"I...I really don't know." The magician-slash-thief then looked down at his gloved hands, a little nervous shakiness in his tone. "The last thing I remember was seeing that green-eyed ghost in the museum after stuff was flying towards me...then I was here." He looked around before redirecting his attention to the older man. "Someone else was using my headset?"

"A...a ghost?" The man's tone and facial expressions were both disbelieving before he also looked around. "Well, let's get going. You can tell me about it on the way to your home." The two then very quickly hopped into the white van and drove off.

"Thank you. I owe you a very big favor- perhaps even bigger than very big." Danny looked up after hearing Toichi speak before the other ghost flew down so they were face to face. "That other ghost took off in the opposite direction of you almost immediately after you overshadowed and took off."

"Don't worry about it. I try and help people." Danny smiled and waved a dismissive hand before cocking an eyebrow at Toichi's second sentence. "Really? That's weird."

Toichi shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, just turned around and took off. I tried to tail them but lost them in the subway."

Danny then remembered something the spectral magician had mentioned earlier. "Hey, you didn't happen to get a closer look at whatever's trailing off that ghost, did you?"

"Actually, I did." Toichi was practically beaming with pride. "It looked like part of a bolt of silk cloth, actually."

"Thanks! That's a big help. Hopefully it can help us narrow down the suspect pool." Danny laughed lightly. "It's, um, a pretty big pool."

"So I've heard from several people." Toichi nodded firmly. "Well, people and fellow ghosts. He apparently had a heck of a lawyer."

"Yeah, it looked like it." Danny nodded in agreement. "My friends and I were trying to figure out who it was..."

"Oh! It's Kisaki Eri- we Tokyo ghosts have quite the information network. Being invisible makes it pretty easy to find out things." Toichi gave another beaming smile. "I can take you to her office if you want."

Danny smiled and nodded. "That would be great, actually. I was kinda hoping to take a look in her files to see if there are any more potential suspects to add to the list."

Toichi nodded and motioned to Danny to follow him, both ghosts keeping thier invisibility up as they headed to another part of town. After a few minutes of flight, they arrived at a new-looking, well-appointed office building. Toichi pointed to one of the panels on the directory that was posted on the outside wall. "1-A - right on the first floor." He then flew over to one of the ground-level doors. "This one right here. I'm going to go and make sure that Kaitou Kid gets home safely." Toichi then took off at rapid speed into the night.

**KISAKI ERI**

_Alright- let's see what I can find in here. _Danny phased through the door and looked around the well-appointed office, trying to get his bearings in the dark. _File cabin__ets would be a good_ _place to start if she doesn't lock them..._ Danny noticed that there were no cabinets in what seemed to be the front room/reception area, so he phased through the locked inner door and entered what was probably Eri's actual office. _Bingo!_ One whole wall of her office was nothing but filing cabinets. _Now to put the Babelfish to work._ He was about ten minutes into the files, trying to narrow them down to people that had actually died due to the man's actions, when his breath let him know that there was a ghost present. Danny quickly got up, wondering if it was Toichi returning before a heavy wooden book-laden bookshelf toppled down on him from behind, something that would have rendered him unconscious if he hadn't heard it falling behind him and quickly gone intangible.

_OK...not Toichi. _He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up again as he looked around frantically for a better fighting position. He quickly went out to the front room. "Come out and fight." He scanned the office intently after the Babelfish finished translating, eyes peeled for any signs of the hostile ghost. "Although you seem the type to not want to fight fair." Danny then felt a pair of hands grab him from behind, and he struggled to free himself. He was shoved into the reception desk so quickly that he didn't have time to go intangible and let out an 'umph' of pain as his breath was stolen from him and the items on the desk became disarranged. The ghost backed him up to do it again, but this time Danny anticipated it and sent them both into the back room, where he was able to free himself enough to turn around and give the ghost a taste of his ghostly wail. He held one hand on his waist after he completely freed himself, the ghost apparently momentarily stunned by the wail. By the time Danny had his breath back fully, he looked around and realized that the ghost wasn't in front of him anymore.

This was when the ghost struck him fiercely from behind again, shoving him into the back wall of the reception area with all its might and making a menacing hiss as it did so. Then, Danny made what he later realized was a critical error: Trying to pry the ghost's hands off his own. This caused him to lose focus on where the ghost was aiming him, and he was knocked unconscious after being rammed into a bookcase full of books.


	11. I Am One

Hope you all enjoy and are doing well! Don't buy a house unless you want your free time sucked into an abyss for a while...

* * *

Kuroba Kaito was _definitely _acting strangely this morning- there was no doubt about it in Hakuba Saguru's mind.

As Saguru prepared to settle in for the school day at his desk, he couldn't help but notice how Kaito kept frowning and staring at his hands, flexing them on occasion as if to be sure he was in control of their movements. The other boy also looked around the room on occasion, Kaito focusing his attention up on the ceiling as if looking for something in midair. Saguru was just beginning to ponder whether or not to broach the subject of his strange behavior with his classmate when Koizumi Akako entered the room. She was about halfway to her desk when Kaito practically leapt out of his seat and jogged up to the witch after he'd seen her.

"Hey Koizumi-san! Can I talk to you?"

After she finished putting her backpack down, Akako turned and gave Kaito a cool look, though an eyebrow was also cocked in curiosity. "About what?"

Kaito then pointed to an unoccupied corner of the room. "Uh, it'd be better if we could talk over there. Please?"

Akako studied him for a moment or two, a mix of puzzlement and concern on her features. "Alright, but class starts in a few minutes." Her wonder only increased as she noticed the almost relieved look on the magician's face.

After the two of them headed to the corner Kaito had pointed to, Saguru found himself wondering quite a bit what was going on as well. Part of him just wanted to approach the thief and ask 'So what happened last night at the gallery, Kuroba?' but he knew Kaito would just give him a blank stare and a 'Last night? I was sleeping, why?' or some variant of that reply.

"Good morning Saguru-kun!" Aoko offered Saguru a bright smile as she entered the room and settled into her own desk. She then noticed Akako and Kaito's conversation in the corner. "What are those two talking about?"

Saguru gave a polite nod at Aoko's greeting before offering a mild shrug. "I don't know, but Kuroba definitely wanted to speak to Koizumi-san pretty badly."

After a few minutes, the conversation in the corner ended with a somewhat relieved-looking Kaito going back to the seat at his desk.

_I wonder what that was about? _Without being too obvious, Saguru glanced over at Kaito and noticed he was sketching something on a piece of paper before Aoko walked up to Kaito and tapped him on the shoulder.

"What were you talking to Akako-san about, Kaito?"

"Uh, nothing really." Kaito shrugged before turning his attention back to his drawing.

"It was _something_, Bakaito," retorted Aoko before reaching down and quickly snatching up the paper Kaito was sketching on. She studied it and blinked before handing it back to Kaito. "Who's that guy?"

"I dunno, actually." Kaito shrugged before he tucked the drawing into his desk just before the bell rang. "I'd like to figure it out, though." _And if what Koizumi said is true, why he helped me..._

_I know this'll sound weird, Koizumi, but are ghosts real?_

_That's a silly question to ask, Kuroba._ Her no-nonsense tone and facial expression had convinced him more than anything. _Of course they're real. Why do you ask?_

He'd danced around replying, but Kaito felt better because now he knew he hadn't been crazy. It had definitely been a white-haired, green-eyed ghost that had bailed him out last night. He sure hadn't recognized the ghost, but Kaito hadn't gotten the feeling the ghost hadn't wanted to hurt him, and one thing Kaito prided himself on was the ability to quickly get a feeling for people. He just hoped that talent extended to ghosts.

_Yes, it's very possible for a ghost to be good. Ghosts are still sentient unless despair and pain have driven them to madness- there can be bad and good ghosts just as there are bad and good people in this world._

Kaito studied the sketch he made once more before tucking it into his backpack. It was a weird feeling, owing someone that you didn't know a favor- heck, someone that wasn't even _living_. Kaito shuddered as he recalled last night; the thief had little to no doubt that that white-haired ghost had definitely saved him from a nasty death.

_Sorry about this, but I've got no choice right now if you want to get out of here safely- t__hat other ghost may have a little better aim with the next thing they throw at you._

The only real pieces of information Kaito had to go on were the ghost's face and that single English sentence he'd heard in his mind before he'd fully blacked out. Kaito just hoped it would be enough.

* * *

_Ugh...not good._

Danny slowly regained consciousness, his vision swimming a little as he looked up at an unfamiliar ceiling. _OK...this isn't the hotel...so where am I? _He could feel a pillow under his head and that he was laying on a couch before he slowly shifted his gaze to the right, the somewhat messy brightly colored office he'd fought in last night swimming slightly in front of him. _I must still be at the lawyer's office..._

"Oh, you're finally awake! Are you OK?" The soft voice hurt Danny's ears a little as the halfa felt the beginnings of a huge headache creeping its way from the back of his head forward. He winced before very slowly turning his head toward the voice. A Japanese woman with loose, shoulder-length brown hair and wearing a 3-piece pants suit gave him an amused smile.

"That depends on what you mean by OK." Danny grimaced lightly. He was realized now that not just his head, but his entire body was protesting any kind of movement. _That ghost sure did a number on me..._

"I'll go get Kisaki-sensei," the woman said with a smile before she left the room, closing the door behind her After a few seconds, the woman's slightly muffled voice came through the door. "He's awake Kisaki-sensei!"

Danny managed to get himself propped up on the couch using a decorative pillow before the door opened again. A well-dressed dark brown hared women wearing glasses entered the room, a glass of water in one hand as she adjusted the loose bun in her hair with the other. "Hello there, burglar" she laughed in slightly accented English as she offered Danny the glass of water. "Feeling any worse for the wear?" Danny noticed the other women reenter the room and settle into a wooden chair.

"I've been better," Danny offered before he gratefully downed most of the water in a single long drink. "Um, where am I?"

The woman tilted her head and offered a guarded smile. "This is my office. I'm Eri Kisaki." She gestured to the other woman. "This is my secretary, Midori Kuriyama. She's the one that found the mess you made this morning." Eri's intelligent blue eyes studied Danny closely as she handed him his wallet. "This was next to you in my office."

After he took his wallet back, Danny figured she'd already looked through it. "Thanks." He then looked at the carpet, then back up at Eri. "I'm Danny. Danny Fenton. I, uh, suppose you'd like to know what I was doing in here last night?"

Eri nodded before relaxing into a chair she went to sit in slightly. "I'll get right to what I'd _really_ like to know- the reason I haven't called the police yet because I'm so curious." Eri tilted her head slightly, fixing a stern gaze on Danny. "Mind telling me how you managed to get into my office last night? All of my doors and windows were still locked, none of them were damaged or forced open and the security alarm never even went off." She sat up slightly. "Why you broke in too, of course, but I'm much more puzzled bout your method of entry." Her gaze became more puzzled than stern. "Neither Midori-san or I could find how you did it. It seems like your break-in was physically impossible."

Danny flinched slightly and nodded. _I had a feeling she'd get right down to the uncomfortable questions._ He glanced over at Midori before looking back at Eri. He drummed his fingers against the empty water cup, Danny's mind flailing for a reasonable explanation and failing to find one. _There's no_ w_ay I can come up with something that would explain it...except the truth._ Danny studied the ceiling, then floor before looking at Eri again, deciding to lead into it the only way he could think of. _There's no reasonable way I can explain her finding me in her office..._ "If I tell you everything, do you promise to not call the police?"

"That entirely depends on what you tell me." Eri crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow, waiting for Danny's reply.

_Time for the truth. _"Do you believe in ghosts?"

Eri's reaction to the question was about what Danny had expected, a confused look crossing her pretty features momentarily. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Actually, pretty much everything." Danny sat up a little more on the couch with a light groan of pain, his tone and face serious. "It's also why I tried to get some information from your office last night."

"I hope you'll explain some more." Eri was deeply confused, though she was trying to hide it as much as she could.

"Uhh, you know the guy that died a couple days ago, Akai Yorinoko?" At the nods from Midori and Eri, he continued with his nervousness betrayed in his tone. "Well, um." He cleared his throat nervously before looking at both of them again, his face and tone calm and serious. "I know this is going to sound crazy, but a ghost killed him."

_I'd think he was joking...but he certainly seems very genuine about it. _Eri studied Danny for several moments before tapping her lip lightly with a finger. "You're not kidding, are you?" Her mind was screaming that ghosts didn't exist, but Eri also prided herself on being able to read someone, and she really didn't get the feeling at all that the kid was trying to pull the wool over their eyes.

"Are...are you saying that ghosts actually exist?" Midori's eyes were a little wide. "B-but how did a ghost kill him?"

_May as well go all in now. _He'd already come this far, no turning back now, right? "Yeah, they exist all right. I fought a ghost in here, that's what made this mess." Danny gingerly ran a hand through his hair before slowly getting up and turning so he was sitting on the couch normally. "A ghost did what's called overshadowing or possession to they guy they're saying killed Akai Yorinoko." He paused for a few seconds to let the information sink in, giving both women a very serious look. "Basically, a ghost can take over a person's body and make the person do whatever they want - and the person won't remember _any_ of it after the ghost releases them."

Eri put a hand to her mouth, any doubt that she had about Danny's bizarre story completely removed from her mind after watching his body language and hearing his tone of voice. "How do you know so much about ghosts, if you don't mind me asking?"

Danny seemed to think it over for a moment before replying. "Because I am one."


	12. Flash of Light

*sings* And believe me I am still alive, I'm doing science and I'm still alive, I feel FANTASTIC and I'm still alive...I don't get to write nearly as much as I'd like to. Hope everyone enjoys!

* * *

"Where _is_ he?" Sam paced a circle into the floor in the hotel room she was sharing with Danny and Tucker, an occasional frown and stare out the large window to her right accompanying the looping march. The rain had finally cleared overnight, the sun brilliantly showcased against a clear blue sky as it shone down on the bustling morning traffic below. A cacophony of honking horns and rumbling engines made their soft, muted way through the window as Sam continued to worry.

"I don't know either, remember?" Tucker shrugged helplessly and looked down at his watch, eight-thirty JST creeping up far too quickly. "And his dad'll be here any minute to make sure we're all here." He didn't have to mention that absolutely no contact from their friend was not the norm at all.

Sam nodded before looking around the room. She then focused her attention on Tucker, an intent expression on her face. "I think it's time for Operation Stuffed Sheets." The backup plan had worked before, and they had to hope it would work again. It wasn't the first time that Danny had gotten caught up in a mission as Danny Phantom that had kept him out later than planned, after all.

Tucker nodded before the two began gathering all of the pillows they could find in the room, quickly taking them to one of the beds and stuffing them under the sheets to approximate the shape of a person. _Now _they had to wait and perform their best acting jobs. No sooner had they finished moving the final pillow into place than the expected very loud knock on the door came.

"Heya kids! Roll call!" Jack's cheerful voice rang through the door loudly. After Sam opened the door to let Jack in, the ghost hunter pulled out a checklist. "OK..Sam...Tucker..." Jack checked off the pair's names on a piece of paper before glancing around the room with a frown. "Uhh, where's Danny at?"

"Oh, uh, Danny's not feeling too well right now," replied Tucker as he waved towards the bed. "Bad mochi last night or somethin'. He's sleeping it off."

"Hmm." Jack seemed to think this over for a few moments before his face brightened; Sam and Tucker could almost see a light bulb floating over Jack's head. He then ran over towards the bed until Sam 'accidentally' stuck her foot out to trip him. "Oops, sorry about that." She offered Jack a hand up. "It's OK, really. He just needs some rest."

Tucker joined in the effort to get Jack out the door, offering a nervous laugh and waving to the room's door. "Yeah, that's all. He just needs some peace and quiet."

Jack mulled this over before nodding and offering a bright smile and checking Danny's name off the list as he headed for the door. "Just make sure he gets some rest and checks in with when he gets up," Jack called behind him with a smile. Tucker and Sam both leaned against the door and wiped their brows in relief before the sound of Sam's cell phone receiving a text message went off- the particular musical beep one Sam instantly recognized. "That's Danny," she sighed with relief as she ran to her phone.

**No time to explain. Fine but not really.**

"Fine...but not really? Either you're fine or you're not," offered Tucker with a raised eyebrow after Sam read the text aloud. _What the heck have you gotten yourself into this time?_

Sam offered a grim nod in agreement before replying 'What happened?'

**Got caught.**

"I sure hope he doesn't mean what I think he means," muttered Sam as she studied the reply with a frown. _This can't be good at all..._

**Gotta go.**

"Soooo. This sounds like it could be _preeeeetty_ bad." Tucker shook his head in disbelief. "I just hope he can talk his way out of whatever's going on."

* * *

"Who were you texting?" asked Eri with a laugh as she and Midori reentered the room with fresh glasses of water for themselves and Danny. The two had taken the chance to have a quiet, somewhat disbelieving conversation at the water cooler. In the end, it was decided to at least hear out the young American's strange story. After all, if his claim about being 'something like' a ghost was true, he should have_ some_ kind of proof, right?

"My friends. I figured they were wondering where I was." Danny offered a shrug and small, nervous smile before tucking his phone back in his pocket. He then sat fully upright on the couch with a light groan.

Eri nodded before handing Danny his water. "So back to our earlier conversation," the lawyer began with cocked eyebrow and curious tone. "So you're a ghost?" _Yeah right, kid...but I'll at least indulge your little fantasy for now. _She had no doubt that he _thought_ he was telling the truth- but ghosts? Really? The more she thought about it, the more ridiculous it sounded.

Danny shook his head before looking at the ground for a few seconds, his face showing concentration as if thinking of something or how to phrase it. The halfa nodded to himself before looking up at the two women. "I guess you'd like to know what's going on, right?"

"Of course." Eri nodded and gave the boy her calm, but undivided attention.

"Well." The halfa suddenly had a plan spring into his mind as he slowly stood up and faced the two women, one he hoped like heck would work. In spite of his mind churning with misgivings and his heart racing, Danny somehow managed to stay composed while he spoke. "I guess I'll start by showing you what I really look like." He then looked at the ceiling and raised his hands before the two familiar, brilliant rings of bluish white light signaling his transformation surrounded him. _Here goes nothing..._

After being momentarily blinded by the brilliant rings of blue light that had come out of nowhere and surrounded the boy, Eri still hadn't been prepared for the sight that met her eyes after she could see again and dared look over at where Danny had been standing. Her eyes widened as she took in the snow white hair and almost glowing...no, definitely _glowing_ green eyes that had changed from the black and blue that they'd been mere moments ago. The lawyer then noticed that he was in a completely different black and white outfit as well before she tried to ask what in the world had just happened, but found that her mouth was just opening up and down slightly like a flabbergasted fish needing water to breathe. Danny shifted his feet slightly as he looked between the pair, clearly somewhat uncomfortable.

It..._was_ Danny still, right? But how and why had his appearance changed so drastically? Her eyes narrowed slightly as she quickly ticked off things in her head. _Same eye shape...same hair style...same weight...same height...same weight...Yeah, it's got to be him._ Eri managed a glance over at Midori, who looked equally as stunned, before she turned her full attention to the strange teenager. She then noticed a slight tilt of Danny's head as he wore a somewhat wary and expectant look while glancing between the women, clearly waiting for one of them to start asking questions. _There's no way...what is this? What IS he? _Eri_'s _eyes then widened a little, hearing Danny's earlier words clearly as a bell in her head.

_Do you believe in ghosts?_

"How...? What...?" It was Midori that finally broke the silence, choking out her words and staring at Danny with a mix of shock, fear and curiosity, the secretary pressed against the very edge of the couch and clearly ready to flee for the front door at a moment's notice.

"I didn't mean to scare you guys. Sorry; I should've warned you." Danny shrugged and offered an apologetic look from where he stood. "I just figured it would be easier to show you how I really look, then explain things."

Her heart still dancing around madly in her chest, Eri took a deep, calming breath before finally managing to speak. "What...what are you, exactly?" She was fairly certain she already knew the answer, though. She noticed Midori finally seemed to be calming down as well, the other woman finally relaxing enough to actually sit on the couch again.

Danny gave a single nervous laugh, looking at the ground before shrugging and sitting down in the love seat opposite the couch. "I'm a ghost, but you probably guessed that already." _Yep, just a ghost. No halfa here... _He'd have to come up with some reason for him to be able to go visible, but he could think of that later. There was no need for them to know about what he really was, right?

Eri slowly nodded, thinking of the million questions she wanted to ask and filing them away in order of importance. "Well, I have a lot of questions, of course." She shook her head in bemusement, the sheer enormity and improbability of the specter quietly sitting in front of her still processing in her mind. If she hadn't had him sitting about five feet from her, she would have sworn that her eyes were still playing tricks on her. "So ghosts _do_ actually exist, then." She thought she was doing a marvelous job of keeping her composure, but Eri supposed it helped that this ghost seemed so...well, _nice_.

After nodding in the affirmative, Danny's look grew serious. "Yeah, we do. And there's a big problem going on right now with one of us." He gave Eri a firm look that she knew meant there was very serious business at hand. "I know you probably have a lot of questions, but we've gotta talk about that first." _OK, a_ lot_ a lot of questions, but for now I've gotta take a look at your files if I can. _He fully expected a game of Twenty- no, One Hundred Questions later on.

Eri and Midori glanced at each other before Eri spoke. "A big problem? Like what?" _May as well go all in now, _the lawyer figured with an internal shrug as she warily continued to study the impossibility sitting before her. _Maybe some of those old ghost stories have some truth to them after all._

"Yeah." Danny shifted a little in the couch, clearly thinking of the best way to phrase things. "Uh, you know Takeo Suziboshi? The guy they arrested for Akai Yorinoko's murder?"

"Mmhmm. I've been following the case." Eri leaned forward ever so slightly, her interest piqued. "Is there something special about it?" It was somehow easier for her to relax when she put the ghost in the mindframe of a client, even though her mind was still trying to fully accept the fact that ghosts existed, as if her mind didn't believe what was right in front of her eyes.

"A ghost actually killed the guy." He stood up and began pacing back and forth between the couch he'd been sitting on and the one Midori and Eri were, looking down at the floor as he spoke. "As best I can tell, the ghost I'm trying to catch did something called 'overshadowing' and used Takeo's body to kill Akai." He paused his pacing long enough to face both women. "Basically, most ghosts can overshadow- it's totally taking someone's body over. The person that's taken over will usually have no memory of what they've done while they were overshadowed either." He then waved his hands in an apologetic motion, his expression and tone condoling as well. "I know, this has gotta be a lot to take in all at once."

"S-so why did you b-break in here?" Midori finally spoke after several seconds, her tone wavering as she openly stared at Danny with fear. "W-what does t-this office have to d-do with a-anything?"

"Akai Yorinoko was a client here, right?" Danny's eyes roamed the office briefly. "I was trying to see who his enemies were."

"_Was _a client, yes." Eri's tone brooked no nonsense. "He was dealing with me through proxies. Once I figured out who he was, I refused to take any of his cases anymore." The lawyer crossed her arms, her face a mask of irritation.

The halfa looked a little disappointed before he seemed to get an idea. "Well, do you still have any of that information? I'm trying to help Takeo out."

Eri turned to Midori. "Actually, do we still have any of that stuff? I remember asking you to mothball some of my old cases a while ago."

"I-it's at the storage across town," replied Midori as she nodded. "B-but it's still there."

"Well kid, you've got a _lot_ of explaining to do to me later," Eri noted as she looked sideways at Danny before getting up, "but for now, let's see what I've got. We can do a little exchange, your information for mine." As she headed towards the door and grabbed her coat and purse, she gestured to Danny to follow her. "Midori and I can drop you off wherever you're staying while we're on the way there. After you...uh, change, of course."


End file.
